My favorite indie artist is back with a new single. Martin Lloyd Howard has had me listening on repeat all morning. His latest release, “Surrey Bells” is a lovely instrumental piece that gives his acoustic guitar the room to do the talking. The opening acoustic guitar is soothing straight away. There is a calmness to the way Howard plays, and those first few seconds are enough to draw me into the little world he has created here. He keeps the arrangement simple, with the guitar doing nearly all the work and only a few extra details appearing along the way.
Although it sounds like one man sitting with his guitar, the track was made with two guitar parts. They answer one another in a way that brings the idea behind the title to life: church bells ringing across the Surrey countryside. One part has a more distant, echoing quality, while the other sits closer to the listener.
I have always loved Howard’s approach to acoustic guitar, and I never tire of it, especially his choice of tones and the way he lets each note settle. “Surrey Bells” is another reason I keep coming back to his music. It is gentle, calming and easy to spend time with, but it never becomes background noise to me. I enjoyed every minute of it and I expect this one will stay on repeat for quite a while. Make sure you follow Martin Lloyd Howard online and keep up with his music.
