As I said at the time of his sonically stylish album, Cowboydelic, it is a cool blend of rootsy sounds and echoes of otherness that really sets Andrew Clendenen apart from the pack. The clue was staring us in the face all along, the title itself hinting at that blend of roots and psychedelia, established music traditions and adventure. Well, it is a blend that serves him well. It is also a meeting of music styles, which also runs through Nobody Knows.
Andrew knows the benefit of starting out in an understated yet accessible place and then wrapping the song in additional tones, textures, weight, and drive as the it progresses. It feels like building an aeroplane while it is already in flight, but it is a style that pays dividends.
So, as the song moves from troubadouric voice and acoustic guitar traditions through delicate additions that shift it from the singer-songwriter realm into a more band-driven sound and finally into more energetic country rock realms, it evolves and develops naturally and effortlessly—so naturally and effortlessly that it is only in hindsight that you can fully appreciate its sonic journey. And one of those defining additional layers comes in the form of the heavenly harmonies for Katie Dundas adding depth and intrigue behind the main vocal and whose own eclectic and adventurous musical creation should be high on your list of artists to check out.
Nobody Knows comes from the “if it ain’t broke…” school of music writing. It reminds us that there is nothing wrong with using the established genres to build your songs – in this case, country licks, bluesy inclusions, gentle pop-rock drives that move more from one to the other as the song progresses – all that matters is the quality of the end song. It is a song that reminds us that there is plenty of life in these genres and that in the right pair of hands, even such established styles can be moulded into something wonderfully fresh, with just enough of a hint of the familiar.
Andrew Clendenen is definitely the right pair of hands.