Weeed’s Gabriel Seaver’s recent solo outing focuses on his acoustic fingerpicking skills while revealing that he is a player of remarkable subtlety and heart. 

Seaver’s playing is deeply evocative and often conjures up wistful atmospheres that can stir up all kinds of melancholic emotions, no matter what mood you’re in. Songs like “Neptune Only Knows” feature very lyrical phrases and twirling licks that hesitate and roll like a stiff breeze just before a thunderstorm. Weeed’s psychedelic rock jams hint at Seaver’s appreciation of space and quietness, but it’s in full force here.

Unlike many of the other guitar soli albums that have appeared in recent years, Tuning is fairly reserved while still not being overtly minimal in approach. The playing is never as busy and clamorous as Steffen Basho-Junghans’ material nor is it as delicate or hushed as say Eli Winter’s work, but it sits somewhere in between. His airy fingerpicking is instead closer in style to Bert Jansch or the likes of Mason Lindahl and Gwenifer Raymond.

This is a record for moonlit nights when you need some solitude or for long walks in a forest, as each track (including “Strong,” which is the only tune with vocals) is meditative and immensely pleasant. An album we all could use right about now.

As great as Weeed’s electric haze might be, I do sincerely hope we will be hearing more of Seaver’s solo work in the near future. Click here to get your copy now.

-KH

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