By: Kevan Breitinger
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Trevor Davis
Nothing Ringing True
Indie
Pop
12-25-2007
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SCORE
 
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It’s always a delight to run across a fresh sound, an artist who chooses to bypass the easy road and chop his own way through the brush. Trevor Davis is knee-deep in the brush and still swinging. He and co-producer Jonathan MacIntosh spent a year making Nothing Ringing True, and they made every day count. The result: eleven sparkling tracks of fresh, original songs that blissfully mix soul, pop, and hints of jazz.
Soft percussion opens the pulsating pop opener “Arrowplane,” a beat-driven love song Davis wrote to his wife during the pre-wedding year when many states still lay between them. His soulful vocal overflows with yearning even as his playful lyrics toy with the verse. “Change” is straight-up acoustic soul, counting on the steadfastness of God, although He is not named in the insightful lyric: “People are always letting me down cause/ they don’t love me like you do/ when I hold all to their world I get burned/ and I turn to you.”
Davis channels his inner Prince often on Nothing Ringing True, first showing up over the simmering pop of “Rely On You.” There’s more on “Mr. Mister,” veering from moments of howling intensity to almost feral pleading, the track rich in honesty, texture, and personality. And the piston-like rhythms and industrial sizzle of “Not Enough” nicely anchor his Prince falsetto. Taking another approach, Davis’ acoustic guitar adds warmth to the already sultry, intimate “Wife To Be,” a standout track. Another favorite was the dreamy Wurlitzer worship of “Across the Clouds,” and the hook-rich title track, with its soulful chorus, is also a must-mention.
Davis closes the project out on a lovely note, as the captivating, buoyant ballad “Caterpillar” showcases his strong, fresh vocal. Getting big props for originality, Trevor Davis’ Nothing Ringing True is straight-up fun.
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