George Boomsma – The Promise Of Spring Live

I had the studio version of this marked down as pleasant acoustic pop but this new live version has forced me to revaluate.

Admittedly “The Promise Of Spring Live” is stretching it, as he has extra tracks in the live set, and it is a beefier live sound that alerted me to this; and one of the extra tracks, “Streets Paved With Gold” showed Boomsma had a greater range than I thought – a super-chilled vibe for a layered pop / jazz track that is a pleasure to listen to. “2 + 30” is on the studio album but live, the lively bass stands out more and the vocals are more Rufus Wainwright than Nick Drake. It is a minute longer than the studio version, most of this a nice guitar solo and a quiet section in the middle, broken by the bass.

Going back to the studio version, “Cashmere Grey” is as interesting as the live version.

I thought his voice was too gentle on the studio version but it’s better on this, too. Worth checking out. See georgeboomsma.bandcamp.com.
JMC