CD: “The Hermit and the Hedonist” by Jim Kroft

Every now and then, Rock Regeneration is sent an album from an unexpected location, and this time its Germany’s Jim Kroft, a singer songwriter from Berlin who recently released an album called “The Hermit and the Hedonist”.

Jim’s description of this record was that he “has made an album of brutal honesty, self exploration and cultural commentary. It is a story of a singer songwriter attempting to chronicle his own voice during periods of excess and loneliness”. From these words you could be misled to think that this could be a fairly melancholy affair, but don’t be, as what he has to offer could change your pattern of thought towards soul driven music.

Starting proceedings is leading single and opening track “Memoirs of the Afterlife”; a song which echoes the sounds of The Beatles and translates my thoughts to what I believe life would have been like in the 60’s (bear in mind I was born in 1992!). This opener creates a surreal and floaty atmosphere to captivate my instincts and drift into ‘Modern Monk’. Along with “If I’m Born Too Late”, this track bares a strong resemblance to Keane’s work with Kroft’s vocals sounding along the lines of of Keane front man, Tom Chaplin. There are shards of this album which transform bitter sympathy into soaring triumph, in the form of back to back tracks “Waiting for a Healin” and “Ulysses” which both seem to dwell on an attention seeking lack lustre state to begin, but eventually plunge into an outburst of string led glory, which shines through the dark, depressing imagery these songs contain.

The many elements displayed in this album have enabled Kroft to portray his brutal self honesty in a way which will transfix even the most cynical listeners. This is simply down to his charming voice, bewildering lyrics and hearty depth of his songs, achieved through the arrangement of strings which wrap around the contemporary instrumental brilliance this album provides. There are times where Kroft’s loneliness may have isolated himself from translating his experiences into captivating song writing as there are a couple of tracks which do not spark too much emotion from me, but the majority of the songs on this album will pull a heart-string or two. This is without a doubt a fantastic listen for anyone who enjoys an emotion driven journey, with every subtle charm to boot. Jim Kroft could be one of the freshest sounding artists to emerge from Germany this year.

Track Listing
1. Memoirs of the Afterlife
2. Modern Monk
3. The Jailer
4. If I’m Born Too Late
5. Waiting for a Healin’
6. Ulysses
7. Canary In The Coalmine
8. Bleeding Into Bohemia
9. Haiku
10. Daylight
11. Morning Breaks

Links
http://www.jimkroft.com
http://www.facebook.com/jimkroft

Words by George Fullerton.