Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few - “Vacant Spaces”
Joe from Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few has been lucky enough to work with musicians in every aspect of his life, including taking the helm as video director for well known artists like Wilco and Julien Baker. And when an artists drops names like these, you can bet your buttocks that our interest will be piqued. That said, Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few’s music is still relatively new to this Earth, so we are taking it upon ourselves to get it into some fresh earholes. That’s where you, dear reader, come in.
Upon listening to their latest track, “Vacant Spaces,” you will find that it is more like an indie-folk theatrical production and it is not difficult to imagine how it would play out across a screen. The song comes into your ears in four main ‘acts’, each separated by what we believe to be literal metaphors of ‘vacant spaces’, designed to ignite the transition between each scene. This song, in a sense, has all the makings to be considered a mini EP, if such a thing were to actually exist. Basically, there is so much ambition crammed into this one piece of music that it lives and breathes as though a complete soundtrack to your life, doing whatever you’re doing at the moment that you first hear it. And the real wizardry here is that there is no sleight of hand or sorcery being done with software; all of these instruments are acoustic; all of the vocals are raw. It is a masterpiece.
Offering up any similar artists would only do the listener a disservice. This track is at the bleeding-heart epicenter of the modern indie-folk scene. From the plucked banjo and the remarkable vocal harmonies, to the harmonica and masterfully placed percussion, “Vacant Spaces” will reach into you and pull out forgotten feelings and, in all honesty, create new ones that you, perhaps, believed you were incapable of experiencing. Find a place to be alone for five and a half minutes, turn up those earbuds, and enjoy the journey:
“Vacant Spaces” comes from Joe Baughman + The Righteous Few’s upcoming LP, Antichrist Complex. The record will not be released until November 12, but there is another single from it that you can hear, entitled “Prophet’s Mouth,” which is bound to shake up the anticipation for the upcoming record:
-TM