Tyrone Wells

TYRONE WELLS
"REMAIN"
(Universal Republic, 2009)


I can only assume that Tyrone Wells is one of those artists that I was destined to get turned onto. I had picked up his 2007 major label debut, "Hold On", a year or so ago, but for some reason didn't cotton to it at first. Fast-forward to early this year, when I happened upon a promo CD of his "More" single in the freebies box at the local record shop. I found the song enjoyable, and around the same time, blogger Entirely Random (a terrible shame that you post so sporadically, Random!) posted a YouTube video of him performing the song. Obviously, Fate was trying to tell me something, so I picked up his sophomore CD, "Remain", shortly thereafter. Fate must have known what it was doing, 'cause it turns out I like this guy a lot more now than I ever thought I would.

Tyrone Wells doesn't stray much here from the singer-songwriter-folk-pop-rock sound he established on his debut, and far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing. The lyrics may be more introspective or soul-searching than on his first album, but you can't help but come away from the album feeling uplifted, since the songs are mostly still dressed in appealingly tuneful hooks -- be they strong (the radio-worthy upbeat cuts "In Between The Lines" and "Along The Way") or subtle (the spiritually-minded ballad "All Broken Hearts" and the fragile closer "Together").

His rich, somewhat husky voice might sound a bit too much like Chris Martin in some places (especially when his songs take on a bit of a Coldplay feel, like in "Losing Ground" or "Drifting"), but the similarity is entirely coincidental. Tyrone Wells is an original, talented, and enjoyable artist in his own right, and I just hope this album gets him noticed, like he deserves to be.

Before It Started - Tyrone Wells