Baton Rouge-based Americana artist Reece Sullivan released his third full length studio album on April 2, 2021. Middle Sea is an 8-song journey that takes the listener through many different stories and scene shaping visuals.
The album almost plays like a soundtrack to a feature film. But it’s even more than that. For me, I walked away feeling like I watched a movie through the sounds and lyrics Sullivan creatively puts together throughout the entire record.
I mentioned to Reece when we spoke, that I loved the way the album starts and concludes. ‘Pretty Carry’ and ‘The Ball!’ were the perfect bookends for this album. Though I have to admit that ‘Blood’ has played more than a few times in my earbuds. It was my favorite when I first previewed the album and continues to surprise me in subsequent listens as I seem to pick up on more and more things with each pass.
During our conversation we talked about the writing and recording that went in to the album and Reece broke down the mindset of not only the thought behind each song but how they existed in the track order. He is as cerebral as any artist I’ve had the pleasure to speak with.
When I asked him what he hoped people would take from the record after they were done listening to it he replied, “You know, I concentrate on the craft. Is the song crafted well? Is the recording crafted well? Is the album structure crafted well? For me, I’m used to doing more folk oriented stuff. Some of these sounds are kind of more “old world”, a little more old school stuff. So I guess I’m putting it in context of me playing folk and for me it’s a more fun type thing than I normally do. So I hope that some of those old school vibes would come off. Some of the “fun of it”, would come off while maintaining some integrity as well.”
That’s one of the things I liked about Reece right away.. He’s always thinking on perhaps a deeper level while still hoping that the listener simply has a fun and enjoyable experience. I’d almost bet that this mindset enables him to keep creating and focus on the music, which in turns gives all of us as the audience a fun and enjoyable experience!
You can hear my entire conversation with Reece Sullivan by clicking on the link to your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
-Tommy Marz
You can find Tommy on Twitter
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