By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)The Way We Move Langhorne Slim ****It must be hard living up to such a cool stage name as Langhorne Slim. But when your birth name is Sean Scolnick, maybe not. Slim has been releasing albums since 1999, and The Way We Move is his first with Ramseur Records (The Avett Brothers’ original label). I accidentally saw Langhorne headlining a show in Atlanta with Dawes in 2010. At times his energy overtook the songs, but I liked that about it. You get a similar vibe on the title track, on the horn-layered, symbol crushing of “Fire,” and the fuzzed vocals and rollicking banjo of “Great Divide.” But when the tempo slows, the vocal effects are put aside, the acoustic instruments are placed in the forefront and what the listener gets is gruff, subtle beauty. Hear it via “Salvation;” the personal honesty over piano and horn crescendos in “On the Attack,” and the cosmic questions in “Past Lives.” Well-placed dynamics and the balance of singer-songwriter, folk-rock and country make for inspiring ingredients.
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