Tom Brosseau: “Posthumous Success” album review by Kaitlin Perry

Tom Brosseau, originally of North Dakota, has presented nothing new with his third full-length album, Posthumous Success. The album, while folksy in nature, lacks a certain level of soul. The tracks are put together without any type of connection, the only pattern being that at some point they begin to alternate between a track with vocals and a track with no vocals (the tracks with no vocals being the most appealing). For an artist who says that some of his influences are literary, I feel somewhat guilty that I can’t name one lyric sung on this album. There’s something about Brosseau’s voice that I can’t connect with, resulting in me zoning out and paying attention only to the repetitive guitar plucking. However Brosseau’s music is in no way bad. He is a very talented musician whose guitar plucking sounds effortless. He knows folk music well, especially if he can name Mississippi John Hurt as one of his influences (an incredible folk musician from the 1920’s). However the only track that reminded me at all of Mississippi John Hurt was the first, “My Favorite Color Blue.” “Boothill” was reminiscent of a more woodsy Panda Bear while “You Don’t Know My Friends” flipped Brosseau’s sound around to one that is more undeveloped garage band-esque. It brings to mind The Walkmen minus the consistent yelling. Towards the end the garage band fuzziness had induced a headache that lasted throughout the duration of the album. While Brosseau has talent, Posthumous Success lacks emotion and an ability to connect with listeners.