Howard Simon


Howard Simon is still finding his way into the mainstream spotlight The strings are yearning, their melodies full of melancholy, but the pained statements that they make in Howard Simon’s heart-wrenching “Tend the Fire,” one of two songs that he’s releasing this month in anticipation of his latest record’s debut, can’t hold a candle to the lyricism that Simon is dishing out in this fantastic ballad. Simon scales a mammoth chorus with ease, unlocking emotions within himself through one cutting commentarial verse after another whilst relating to the audience in a way that few singer/songwriters have. His charisma is off the charts, but his compositional sensibilities are the real star of these two treasures. 


There aren’t many folk singles out right now digging into as personal a subject matter as “Tend the Fire” does, but this song doesn’t translate as being overly intimate for the current climate in pop culture; quite the contrary, in fact. Where so many of his peers have been staying away from this kind of songwriting, Simon is embracing his self-aware side in this track (and sounding like a creative genius in the process). He’s not afraid to bare it all to us. “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” was written by Fran McKendree and originally recorded by McKendree Spring back in the early 1970s, but, you’d never know it by the way that Simon takes to its lushly melodic lyrics with a seamless passion. It’s as though he were born to sing this song; he’s so relaxed here, and even in the track’s more challenging points of conveyance, he never flinches – if anything, his performance gets all the more spellbinding as we get closer to the finish line. 


Howard Simon is still finding his way into the mainstream spotlight, but if there were any critics still unsure of his legitimacy as a singer and modern day hero of folk harmonies, “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” and “Tend the Fire” should do more than enough to silence the skeptics. There isn’t a single instance in either of these songs were he isn’t sounding like a veteran pro who knows exactly the kind of music that he wants to make, and unlike a lot of his contemporaries, it’s made clear to us right from the get-go that he’s 100% invested in the substance of his songcraft. Music isn’t just a living for Howard Simon; it’s a vital, unequaled means of emotional communication.
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Trace Whittaker
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
9/2019

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