Rochester musician Levi Gangi, of the band The Lonely Ones, has the vocal tone of someone sitting on the swing of a bucolic farm’s porch, urging listeners to join him for a heart-to-heart.
On his fourth solo album, “Somebody Else’s Broken Heart,” an 11-song set of country-folk compositions released on July 28, Gangi demonstrates his writing chops and consistent musical delivery while benefiting from the contributions of talented friends.
Lyrically, Gangi doesn’t shy away from sentimentality and nostalgia, and his singing overflows with sincerity. This earnestness could strike some listeners as cheesy, but it’s perfectly in keeping with the style and themes that run throughout the album.
The opening cut “What Did I Miss” is a ballad about how contemporary society and its addiction to social media distracts us from life in the moment. In a well-crafted first impression, Kelly Izzo Shapiro’s vocal harmonies are a brilliant finishing touch.
Background vocals continue to be vital to the poignancy of Gangi’s songs, with tracks such as “Shake Me Down,” an irresistibly catchy tune about the intoxicating, if fatal pull of an unhealthy romance. Sarah De Vallière adds musical depth and poignancy to the song’s solid bones with her well-balanced voice and keyboard playing.
Later in the album, “Murder (The Slow Way)” is a revelation, a dark but clever story-song that brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “assisted suicide” when a man is abandoned by his lover. “Hummingbird Wings” is an unexpected electronic pop song that grows to choral proportions, but against the odds, it works.
Gangi’s straightforward song structure belies a mature musical intuition that gets the most out of familiar instrumentation, proven chord progressions, and uncomplicated lyrics. Each of the collection’s songs is immediately accessible and sonically satisfying. For more info, go to levigangi.com.
Daniel J. Kushner is an arts writer at CITY. He can be reached at dkushner@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2023.
