Mike Noegraf – Outrospection LP (Various Labels)

Mike Noegraf is a French singer/songwriter deeply rooted in folk music. He’s been lurking on the scene for quite a while with a couple of recordings under his belt. If you’re into European acoustic performers and the folk scene, you probably stumbled upon his previous records, such as split release with Roma Wreckman, Safe & Sound EP, his split release with Yotam Ben Horin and Phil Park, Even Tigers Have Heart EP, a debut full-length No Time For Seasons and Even Panthers Have Heart EP. As you can witness, Mike Neograf has been pretty much active since the beginnings of his solo career by recording highly engaging compositions that are reaching out to the hearts and minds of acoustic performance lovers with such ease.

Outrospection is his latest full-length recording, fully stacked with meaningful, engaging, and soulful numbers. Mike took his songwriting, composing, arranging skills very seriously and wisely implemented heartfelt performance into his songs. Just add up an outstanding contemporary production, decorated by a subtle studio reverb ambiance, and you’ll have tremendous listening pleasures pervaded with loads of warm tones. Everything about this record resonates with so much common sense and understanding for polyphonic structures, ear-appealing chord progressions, harmonizations, various accentuations that are altogether uplifting the overall listening pleasures. Noegraf invested his heart and soul in these eleven profoundly detailed compositions, and you’ll unquestionably feel his sincere performance invading your listening apparatus with striking chords.

Outrospection joins hands of indie folk, indie rock, Americana, and country. Perhaps the indie-folk elements are the most dominant throughout this material, but it’s nearly mindblowing how Mike included Americana and country into his songs. Americana undoubtfully had a tremendous impact on his songwriting, and you’ll feel the vibes of the greatest Americana records invested while listening to Outrospection. The presence of country is so subtle but hearable, so you’ll notice some characteristic arpeggiated chords that define this particular genre as well. Last but not least, Outrospection embraces some folk-punk characteristics, but they’re laying deep down beneath the beforementioned elements of indie rock, Americana, and country music. All these ingredients are built into a colossal slab of delightful acoustic sounds, thoughtfully prepared to satisfy all the admirers of heartwarming acoustic performances.

This album comes in two vinyl variants, such as brown/w orange splatter and transparent orange/w golden color-in-color. I must admit both variants are looking incredibly beautiful. There’s a compact disc version and streaming for those who’re more into digital sound. The vinyl is available at Bearded Punk Records, SBÄM Records, and No Reason Records. Head over to your preferred record dealer for more detailed information about ordering.