Sweeter

Gavin Degraw’s new artistic stage

American musician of Russian and Irish ancestry Gavin Degraw was raised in the state of New-York. During many years he has been working hard on his performing skills – Gevin started playing the piano when he was eight. He began writing songs a bit later, after his brother gave him advice to give it a try. Gavin, just like his numerous colleagues, started performing at small clubs. It goes without saying that during the very first stages Degraw received not fame and popularity, but the priceless experience. In Manhattan Gevin played alongside with pianists Lenny Revell and Andrew West, while the biggest part of the audience was the singer’s fans from his native city South Fallsburg. However the talent simply cannot be ignored, which is definitely a good thing - Degraw’s composition I Don’t Want to Be was included into the soundtrack of the TV series “One Tree Hill”. Then another raise came: songs Chariot and Follow Through received their portion of well-deserved attention. Listeners also did not come by the musician’s lyrics, which had always been a source of joy due to its originality. Gavin’s albums differ from each other, which is great. The artist is not afraid of searching for new variants of sound and he presents to fans compositions with various moods. Now it is Sweeter’s turn to surprise listeners.

Sweeter: melodic and romantic

This bright and cheerful record will definitely please all romantics and optimists. The first composition called Sweeter creates the right mood: major chords and Gavin’s easy recognizable voice played their role very well. The track Sweeter is followed by the not less bright song Not Over You, which will be probably remembered due to its amazing chorus. Its pauses added some delicate charm and helped to place accents in the track. Also, which is quite important and smart at the same time, that feature helps to present the lyrics at its finest. Interesting words, original phrases and expressions became Degraw’s good tradition, and Sweeter is not an exception in that aspect. Gavin decided to make the record more rock-oriented, so that is why the quantity of pop-elements is less than it had ever been. Guitars, ringing drums and keyboards – Sweeter is a good example of soft-rock attitude. In general that album offers major, positive compositions, however there is always enough room for touching lyrics. Thereby the final chord, a bit sad and calm, is taken by the song Spell It Out.

Slightly more freedom

In one of the interviews Gavin Degraw stated that many aspects of Sweeter turned out to be something completely new for him. First of all it concerns the singing technique – manner of singing, which DeGraw often used at his concerts, had never been taken by him to the studio. But not this time. The musician made up his mind to create something fresh and really new. Well, he totally succeeded. Vivacious, almost funky sound fits Gavin’s voice perfectly, and this is what really matters. Add traditionally rememberable lyrics with true meaning – and you will get Sweeter. Interesting arrangements, signature melodiousness and renewed manner of singing became the singer’s new creation’s basic fundamentals. The result proved to be impressive indeed, because not every album is capable of peaking at the top 10 of Billboard 200, one of the US most significant charts. There is no doubt that Sweeter is an excellent addition to Gavin’s discography, and we have enough grounds to assume that this is hardly the limit of that talented musician’s opportunities.