John Paul Davis
My name is John Paul Davis. I write poetry, build things on the web with code, make music and visual art. I love making things. This website is mostly about the things I make and do.
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Silhouettes on sunlight -
First Day Of Spring, 2025 -
Endlessly inventive arrangements, operatic in scope, these songs celebrate the birth of a child & new love with idiosyncratic brainy lyrics.
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Rainy, psychedelic, haunted, questioning, questing songs, lushly-arranged, tenderly sung.
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Vibrant arrangements & spectacular melodies support the reflective, pastoral lyrics that meditate on aging, longing & love.
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The band cements their longevity with these finely-crafted, mature tunes that retain all their early-career energy. Searing guitars, spidery bass, thundering drums & a whole lot of heart.
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Hassell defies expectations of what sounds a trumpet can make, gliding, soaring, soothing over polyrhythms, synth pads & stuttering pulsing bass lines. Brian Eno & Michael Brook sit in on some songs.
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His first with a full band, exploring themes central to his 55 year career: spirituality, love, progressive politics. Lush arrangements, tender melodies & his intricate guitar picking abound.
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Adroit & lively lyricism set to compelling, dynamic melodies over mostly solo acoustic guitar played energetically.
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Without deviating from their warm melange of soul, R&B, disco & hip-hop Jungle expand their sonic palette for a richer, more spacious sound.
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Groovy, skittery percussion & funky basslines over string ensembles as Byrne's quirky, metaphoric lyrics capture the paranoias & anxieties of post-9/11 America.
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Washington's spacious, glimmering electric funk never looses its way, thanks in large part to bassist Louis Johnson's nimble grooves & Washington's always-ascending soprano sax.
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Soulful & spare, this album of mostly ballads evokes the almost monastic 3 year period Rollins spent alone, honing his technique by playing on the Williamsburg Bridge.
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25 years in, the indie band delivers a brooding collection of songs that sound like soundtracks to films that don't exist. Gritty, rapturous, cutting, this quiet music should be played loud.
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Winter Textures -
The Dublin rock band expands their sound while staying true to the elements that made their first 2 albums so compelling. Still hard to believe these lads are 25 & under given how well they write & play.
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Breakup songs that celebrate moving away from unhealthy love & find joy in the music itself which ranges from R&B, soul, psychedelia, rock & jazz that comes together as a unified whole guided by Howard's genius.
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Gabriel fronts an all-star cast of musicians from around the world, blending alt-rock & subtle electronica to house his plaintive, incisive, musing explorations of love, grief, reconciliation & healing.
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The band evolves their alt-country Mexo-Americana, focusing here on intimate examinations of love & self-exploration. Fetching melodies & disarming, quietly poetic lyrics, tenderly sung.
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The quartet Redman assembled for his solo debut reunites 25 years later. 4 giants of contemporary jazz deliver a set of lively, masterful interplay, deeply felt.
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Which sets previously-unheard lyrics of Woody Guthrie's to music written by Bragg & Wilco. Vibrant glittering folk-rock with infectious melodies highlighting Guthrie's still-applicable fiery politics.
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thicket -
Their most recent, full of winding post-prog song structures, big satisfying riffs, soaring vocals, mystical contemplative lyrics, thundering drums. The godfathers of emo made the Platonic ideal of area rock records.
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A majestic, expressive & expansive set that finds the band at its finest. Simultaneously uplifting & daring. Wordless hymns of boundless love & hope. Sunday morning on Saturday night.
