MICHAEL LEWIS: The Natural World
MICHAEL LEWIS
The Natural World: Lyric Driven Songs of the Borderlands
Michael Lewis 001
With his wife Denise Wilson, Lewis is one half of the singer-songwriter duo Travelerâs Dream. Theyâve been on the road for 11 years and have four albums to their credit. The Natural World is Lewisâs debut as a solo artist, a deeply felt collection of original tunes with a feel that harks back to the folk/pop sound of the â70s. He contributes bouzouki, mandolin, piano, and acoustic guitar to the tracks and sings them with a restrained passion that instantly draws you in to the emotional landscape the songs inhabit. The melodies here are subtler than the music Lewis writes for Travelerâs Dream, most with a melancholy feel that really tugs the heartstrings. The lyrics are just as touching as the melodies, poetic meditations full of telling insights and heartfelt sentiment. Love songs like âMorning Glory,â âItâs a Hard Life,â and âInto the Fields I Goâ combine images drawn from the worlds of nature and emotion to praise the course of a long-term relationship with a bittersweet aura that makes them sound achingly true. His songs about lifeâs difficulties are just as poignant. âEvery Ray of Sunlightâ and âLet Go the Darkâ deal with lifeâs hard lessons with lyrics that eschew the usual drama and hyperbole in favor of a more realistic look at the responsibilities we all have to face up to in our everyday life. Lewisâs vocals throughout are a wonder of restraint, but all the more powerful because of it.
â j. poet