Anthony D’Amato’s first proper solo album in six years is a rumination on life, love, death, race, and more as the artist fuses probing lyrics with lots of instrumentation in indie-folk-rock style. At First There Was Nothing is a strong summation of the artists’ skills as the ten songs catch ears and lyrics fire synapses.
The New Jersey-born and NYC-based singer/songwriter headed west this round, recording the album in American Fork, Utah with producer Joshua James. The sweeping vistas lead D’Amato to infuse some cinematic scope and range, raising above common singer-songwriter tropes.
Opening with the rolling groove of “Long Haul” the song takes on a Dr. Dog-like, indie rock flair as D’Amato sings with literal commitment as he pledges to the listener who is along for the ride. At times on At First There Was Nothing it sounds like instrumentation was added just for the hell of it, such as the bass and hand drums to end “Long Haul”, and while these superfluous excursions don’t take away from the songs, they can just seem odd for the sake of quirkiness.
The always-evolving “Everything Does” succumbs to this with banjos, buzzing feedback, and layers of sound in the outro but the lyrics and singing see it through. More straight-ahead folk can be found on “Ships In the Night” with sailing motifs, weepy pedal steel, and acoustic strums, while the excellent “The Oyster and The Pearl” is a richly textured folk-rock outing with juxtaposing lyrics. The most interesting complete effort “Kinda Strange” molds funky rock riffs with poppy folk, trumpet solos, percussion, and piano, overloading the song and almost taking away from D’Amato’s important take on racial profiling, reporting, and policing.
Perhaps his best combo of instrumentation, lyrics, and warm singing is “Broke Tooth Smile” as Anthony’s Paul Simon love floats to the surface along with catchy, rising, grooving sounds bubbling up with theatrical timing and folksy charm.
Flipsides of love are dealt with in the soothing picturesque ending “Enough” and the piano ballad of a broken heart in “Breaking Slow”, while shaking percussion aids the self-discovery journey found in “Trying to Change” displaying great guitar work to wrap up before the twinkling finale “But I Go” uses hand claps and building tension as D’Amato ruminates on the afterlife.
A top to bottom pleasure, At First There Was Nothing is a robust record from D’Amato as he navigates through sonic pastures with lyrical nuance.
