Peasant - On the Ground
Peasant is the moniker of Damien DeRose, a singer/songwriter from Doylestown PA, USA, who, before turning his hand to delicate folk had made a living as a poet. Like a fresh-faced Leonard Cohen, DeRose decided that the best way to get his wise words out for the world to devour would be to wrap them up in melody and rhythm.
Discovering this news comes as quite a surprise after the first few listens of his new album ‘On the Ground’, because rather than the lyrics it’s the beautiful music that comes across as the most accomplished part of DeRose’s repertoire. From the opening track ‘The Wind’, with its summery but lonely guitar and soft organ backing, it seems that this is a man that has been plying his song writing trade for years and has perfected a delicate balancing act in producing perfectly layered folk songs.
In fact the opening three tracks are wonderfully satisfying, heart warming, charming acoustic delights. ‘Fine is Fine’ has a more bouncy melody, like Bright Eyes ‘First Day of My Life’, while ‘Stop for Her’ has a slower darker tint to it that Iron & Wine has made his own.
When the full band is introduced for ‘We’re Good’, some frailties do appear. The song doesn’t have the same accessibility that the stripped down tracks do and it’s far easier to draw comparisons to a huge variety of other groups clogging up the folk-rock market. But DeRose still proves his ability to keep the listener engaged by keeping the songs modestly bite-sized, thus avoiding any moments of boredom.
Strangely when going in for closer inspection of the lyrics, much of this albums appeal seems to fall away. There is no shortage of incredible lyricists out there at the moment (most notably Conor Oberst, who could easily convince as a poet) so many of the words on this album just come across as generic clichés when pulled apart from the music. But fortunately DeRose followed the right path and unearthed a wonderful talent for song writing, which has produced a delightful surprise in the shape of ‘On the Ground’.