Male singer-songwriters tend to be a homogenous lot. That said, all Teitur and Newton Faulkner had in common at the Middle East on Wednesday was their use of acoustic guitar. Otherwise they’re at opposite ends of the musical spectrum.
The glossier singer-songwriter was Faulkner, a massively dreadlocked redhead from Surrey, England. The Brit, whose debut record hit the top of the UK charts this year, roared out of the gates with a highly percussive, frenetic guitar-tapping style. Opener “To the Light,” with its half-sung, half-rapped vocal and blitzkrieg guitar flourishes, came off like Jason Mraz on amphetamines.
Faulkner’s manipulation of the acoustic guitar is a wonder to behold, his hands dancing over the fret board in a whirling dervish of motion and sound. Unfortunately, his painful lyrics (either ridiculous cliches or sophomoric frat-boy humor) undercut his instrumental prowess. Too much of his set depended on gimmickry, as in the human theremin vocal on thevapid “UFO,” and the all-parts-in-one muscle-flexing of his “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover.
Faulkner’s cheeky between-tune humor, combined with his showoff style, felt more vaudevillian than artistic. His single, “Dream Catch Me,” did ease up on on the flash, revealing Faulkner’s ability to craft pure pop confections; the tune’s breathy chorus no doubt is heading straight to the end credits of some “Gilmore Girls”-esque TV series.
The audience then was treated to a stylistic 180 in the form of austere minimalist Teitur (full name Teitur Lassen). Hailing from the Faroe Islands off the coast of Iceland, Teitur was the calming foil to Faulkner’s spastic act. With a five-piece band including a horn section, the moon-faced songwriter created airy swaths of baroque pop beginning with the achingly slow “You Should Have Seen Us,” delivered complete with Ink Spots doo-wop harmonies.
Teitur’s arrangements may have bounced glockenspiels around cellos and trombones, but his ringing tenor still took the spotlight, highlighted in the noir ballad “The Girl I Don’t Know.” The arrangements often had a Jekyll and Hyde quality, as in “Start Wasting My Time,” with its meek verses and explosive horn-honking choruses.
Despite his gawkiness, Teitur won the crowd over by simply being his un-self-conscious self. Instead of Faulkner’s calculated jokes, he connected with natural humor, charm, and most of all, emotionally rich and melodically blessed songs.
Rising star songwriter Jessie Baylin started the songwriter carousel off with a short set of sultry folk-pop with hints of lounge and classic country. Her debut CD drops next month.
