New Jersey-born now Brooklyn-based songwriter, Joe Taylor Sutkowski (Dirt Buyer, Jotay) emerges with his debut album, Of Wisdom & Folly via LA-based label, Danger Collective Records. He reimagines a familiar sound in his soft, mostly acoustic 10-track album. Of Wisdom & Folly was largely self-produced and engineered with assistance from Hayden Ticehurst (Jordana).
Through warm vocal delivery, prominent melodies and muffled guitars in the likes of Alex G and Car Seat Headrest, among others, Sutkowski explores the lives of five pairs of characters. His hypnotizing vocals and classical fingerpicking mimic what it’s like dancing in a quiet crowd with your eyes closed. Inspired by the lyrical storytelling of Chocolate USA, a lesser-known project of Elephant 6/Neutral Milk Hotel collaborator Julian Koster, Sutkowski submerges himself to create his tales through what he knows best. “Though the album’s puzzling nature often feels like a dream, the perspectives of the characters are lively, heartbreaking, and ultimately human,” as noted on the artist bio.
For ten mornings, Sutkowski sat down and recorded demos for the album equipped with nothing but vocals and a nylon-string guitar. Narratives inundated and quickly grew into fully-fleshed-out stories aptly clipped under the 3-minute mark. “Steven Dog” is a track written from the perspective of a dog, whereas “Never Wanna See You Go” is taken from the point of view of the owner. “Ada, Take the Socks Off the Bed” shares a tale of a lost girl who tries to help her brother who has become a burden. Of Wisdom & Folly is impressive as the title suggests; succinct in execution yet expansive in detail, and collating the unlikely together.
You can stream the album exclusively below.