Trevor Hall

iTunes Review

Possessing a burly voice and a mystical outlook, this California singer/songwriter draws heavily from Jamaican influences in fashioning his music. “Where’s the Love,” “Unity” and “My Baba” slink along to reggae grooves as Hall toasts his way through uplifting lyrics. There’s a psychedelic tinge present on tracks like “Internal Heights” (a swirling pledge of spiritual purity) and “Sing the Song” (a chant-along anthem driven by a churning drum line). Producer Marshall Altman does a good job at dressing up these tunes in a variety of arrangements, adding sitar, melodica and toy piano in spots. Beyond such embellishments, some of the best moments here are the sparse acoustic numbers, such as the melancholy “Many Roads” and the spacey “Origami Crane.” Hall comes across as a sincere seeker of cosmic experience, whether the mood is yearning (“House”) or enraptured (“Volume”). In the end Hall’s solid talent lends substance to even his most high-flying visions.