Donovan Woods-Without People (November 6, 2020) • Page 5

All of them, Steve. Fucking all of them.

 

Did Without People not land as much for you?

 

That actually might be my favorite, but he’s already heard that one!

 

I’m dumb. I thought “this album” meant the current one. Don’t mind me, I’m on first week of school brain fry.

It is kind of miraculous that someone who made an album I loved so much in 2010 has arguably only continued to improve. Like I still don’t feel like we’re on the far side of his peak

 

There's a legitimate argument that he's gotten better every time out. I don't think I'd quite make that argument personally, but he's been so consistent and has repeatedly introduced little new tricks into his approach, in terms of songwriting and production, that have kept things fresh while still keeping his sound identifiably him. It's pretty impressive, honestly. He deserves a bigger following.

 

Especially since he’s such a captivating live performer. He’s fucking hilarious in his sage banter. Like, moreso than any other artist I can think of.

 

I listened to Both Ways last night. I must have checked it out before, because I recognized a lot of the songs. "Good Lover" is a stunner. Also really cool to hear him do more upbeat stuff like "Truck Full of Money" and "Easy Street" that isn't present on his last few releases.

 

It's him and Matt Nathanson and then everyone else in that department, IMO. Fittingly, they now write songs together.

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhh so much!!! I'll go reverse chronological since I started here

 

I'll be honest I haven't developed a deep connection to the debut The Hold Up yet, but I've loved The Widowmaker since I reviewed it for Nothing Sounds Better a lifetime ago.

 

The Hold Up feels very rough draft-y to me. He immediately did everything about it so much better on subsequent albums that I never felt much need to go back to it.