Jeremy Squires (from the album Riddle of Stars

Jeremy Squires (from the album Riddle of Stars

Jeremy Squires (from the album Riddle of Stars on Blackbird Record Label) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Raised on the Inner Banks of North Carolina, and informed by that setting’s spectral qualities, Jeremy Squires remains devoutly committed to the place he still calls home. It’s hardly surprising then that his haunting new album, Riddle of Stars, his 15th (!) effort to date, captures the elusive aura of those magical environs.
 
Indeed, humble circumstance has informed his career since the beginning. Raised by his grandmother, he was gifted a flea market guitar by his father when he was a child. Squires subsequently taught himself to play and began writing songs before eventually forming his first bands. He himself became a dad while barely into his 20s, and that’s when he was forced to take a variety of odd jobs simply to make ends meet.
 
Nevertheless, he eventually returned to music, and the sounds he’s created over the course of his prolific career have been marked by a emotive and moving delivery that effectively hangs on a slender thread of vulnerability and evocative circumspect. Consequently, the music on his new album, Riddle of Stars, remains spare and yet éloquent, all of it conveyed through hushed melodies that rarely rise above a whisper. Each of the songs morph into the track that follows, making for a mellow continuum that leaves little room for diversion or distinction as far as the individual offerings are concerned. The only uptick in energy is found on track number two, “Blood Pact”, but it’s still only slight at best.
 
Nevertheless, Riddle of Stars is a decidedly affecting endeavor, one that’s typified by the lyrics to “Heart Swell” in particular:
 
‘When your mind is a merry go round, It feels dizzy and slow
May the thorns around your heart form a crown
Dear, you’re free to let go’
 
So too, the track titled “Play Dead” is especially telling:
 
‘I don’t know why I let things twist my stomach into knots
You withered through autumn then you found yourself in god
I don’t give a damn about what’s just around the bend
But, I’ll always wonder what it could’ve been…’
 
Indeed, Jeremy Squires remains an artist with an introspective perspective, and yet clearly, his artistry and expression give him the means to convey his feelings clearly and convincingly. With Riddle of Stars, he does just that. (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
 
Listen and buy the music of Jeremy Squires from AMAZON
 
For more information, please visit the Jeremy Squires website