Besides Daniel, Teeming With Beauty

Teeming, the recently released new album from Besides Daniel (Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Daniel Brewer), has a poetic, intimate poise that brings to mind a less academic Simon & Garfunkel. It doesn’t hurt that Brewer often multi-tracks his own vocals (or else has other uncredited backing vocalists helping out), allowing for some stirring harmonies.

The album is immaculately recorded, with moments of breathtaking beauty, such as when “French Braid” transforms from a lively acoustic guitar-anchored ditty into a reflective meditation, Brewer’s voice alternating between a velvety near-whisper and what sounds like a female angelic being hovering aloft, or at least Antony Hegarty in a cathedral. Such organic otherworldliness crops up at regular intervals throughout Teeming, but a humble simplicity – from hand clap percussion to Prisca Strother’s pretty piano accents – keeps everything down to earth.