First Listen:Scott Mackay “Dressed in Blue”
Mackay is equal parts deep voiced crooner and delicately annunciated soul. There is a certain smokiness and sensual feel to the voice, almost a whisper at points, but it’s also crisp and crystal clear. It warms you up deep in the chest as he sings out his songs, a little bit Roy Orbison and a little bit Nashville songwriter, Keegan Dewitt.
The song itself is beautifully simple. Starting with just steady strummed acoustic guitar, a male vocal, and its female counterpart singing back and forth to one another. Some really beautiful harmonies then come into play, backed by a velvety string section laying down the smooth ice for the duos vocals to skate over. The song ends again with the same male vocal and guitar.
Perfect balance and a leading focus that the buoyant ride that the song trails you along for. It starts down, moves up and opens itself up sonically and there’s a sense of release, before it resolves again with the same sound that it started with. Great resolve, great arrangement, and a really great song.
I get a real “couple talking back and forth to each other here”. The songwriting is great and that “oh red heart, dressed in blue” line is going to be sticking with me for a long time after I take off my headphones.
Check Scott out online at: http://scottmackay.ca/
