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Aug 11, 2021 Web Exclusive By Haydon Spenceley

By this stage of his increasingly storied career, we know what to expect when we have the privilege and joy of hearing a new record from William Fitzsimmons. He chronicles crushing sadness and damage with the kind of vocal smoothness that can deceive you into humming along before you realize what you’re joining in with. It’s quite a gift he has and everything is present and correct here on his new album, Ready the Astronaut.

What’s slightly different and a little disarming this time is the increased muscularity of the accompaniment to the tracks, such as the processed drums and synths of “Down With One Another,” which leads to guitar crunches and arpeggios that feel out of place here. It continues throughout as “You Let me Down” and “Maybe She Will Change Her Mind” suffer from being a little too clever. That’s not to say that the songs aren’t excellent or that Fitzsimmons’s observation are any less potent than they’ve been in the past. Perhaps sometimes some artists should stretch themselves ever so slightly less.

William Fitzsimmons continues to model what it is to be a great singer/songwriter. He’s growing and developing. Will we all be able to keep up? (www.williamfitzsimmons.com)

Author rating: 6/10