Theo Kandel - “Lunch”
New York City-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Theo Kandel has just released the raw, folksy sounds of “Lunch” via Nettwerk Group.
This exploration of new love opens with the blissfully warm strums of an acoustic guitar, wonderfully setting the scene for the cozy, intimate number. The plucked notes from a banjo delicately evoke a melody, adding a bit of width to the production, but still allowing it plenty of room to breathe.
Kandel’s vocal soon emerges, maintaining the chill and soothing sounds with a raw and tender performance that enters the ears as though he’s speaking directly to his listener. Ethereal sounds occasionally rise in the distance and a bit of bass falls into place for depth.
The chorus allows Kandel to hit his upper register, and we imagine that this will be the point you fall in love with the song. The banjo returns to the arrangement and this culmination of the song’s elements provides a grand elevation to the overall soundscape– it is truly sublime.
The second verse invites a magnificent vocal harmony into “Lunch,” with all of the other elements present in order to lend the track a sense of forward momentum. The end of the next refrain brings a glorious dynamic shift that includes swells of otherworldly vocal layers, ultimately leading into a stripped-back break before the epic lift of the final chorus.
Inspired by Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems, Kandel has provided a song that proves he is one to watch. If “Lunch” is foreshadowing for his future releases, we truly cannot wait until he sends them over to us. In the meantime, be sure to catch an earful of this charmingly folksy tune.