This song is “sung” so close to the microphone that you can literally hear the mechanics of the breath required to produce a note. Blake Mills, 33, is an American songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer based in California. The folk singer guitar player has been around for a while now, releasing his first album 10 years ago and then earning a solid living as a top-class session musician with artists such as Conor Oberst, Lana Del Rey, and Dangermouse. Now with the release of his fourth album, Mutable Set, Mills has turned his preternatural skills to songwriting. According to Pitchfork, Mills delivers “a finely tuned album that showcases his unassuming voice and impeccable songcraft”. In the first single from the album, Summer All Over, I cannot recall a song that was so suffocating in the way it is played, there is literally no air in the music. But bit by bit, Mills’ restrained delivery expands and lets the air in, morphing into something huge and at the end of the song, the listener is left clasping the echos of an unforgettable emotional experience.
