Landon Pigg – Coffee Shop (EP)
RCA Records (2008)
Folk rock / Pop
I could fall madly in love with Landon Pigg’s vocals when he starts singing on the gorgeous “Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop”, a track that became a digital hit on iTunes and MySpace late last year after being featured in the “A Diamond Is Forever” campaign. The 24-year-old Nashville songwriter has a heart-leveling intimacy in his music that one doesn’t hear everyday. Pigg considers his music to be “cinematic vibes,” and his work is very visual, with that movie soundtrack quality, that makes him contemporary and likable. Pigg has been touring with Gavin DeGraw, and his music is naturally a compliment to DeGraw’s acoustic-pop/rock style.
The aforementioned “Coffee Shop” is perfect just the way it is—a romantic and simple ode of love—as there’s something in his voice that’s slightly reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian. Pigg also does a reworked “Young at Heart”, making it truly his own without disrespecting Frank Sinatra’s version, while shifting the tone of the song to one of complete vulnerability. “Great Companion” has a familiar quality to it, with the easily relatable lyrics: “And our history will never be erased / You were a great companion / And some memories will never ever fade / So I love and so I hate”
“Can’t Let Go”, about a fizzling relationship and the difficulty of just walking away, could easily be a radio hit for Pigg, while “Magnetismo” is sexy without losing his vulnerability and believability, and just as importantly, without coming off as patronizing towards the Spanish language.
If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that Pigg has the potential to reach John Mayer-type popularity in 2008, and the upcoming re-work of his aptly titled 2006 album, LP, should be a great complement to this EP and a huge step in the right direction for his career.
