Jacob Augustine has one gilded set of pipes. A diamond in the rough north Maine woods, you’d probably expect your fair share of vocal whiskey burn a la Ray LaMontagne, but Augustine’s timbre is more loon than lion, an angelic cloud drifting above a fallen world.

On the songwriter’s ambitious triple October release of “Frontier,” “Goldyhymns” and “The Original Love,” his pristine instrument is pushed to the mountaintop and back, a capable guide through a varied terrain of songscapes.

There is far too much on these three records to be digested in a short time. Although the quiet guitar strumming on “Goldyhymns” might sound like a foundation for vintage Harry Belafonte, Augustine wails like he’s bringing down the walls of Jericho. As the album title suggests, these songs crave a cavernous performance space to do their goose-bumping worst.

There is a timeless, flowing-dress quality to Augustine’s best work. On “Appaloosa,” a liquid melody is delivered with Civil War austerity. It’s a welcome, weird effect, and very few are capable of creating it.

As for the full band arrangements on “The Original Love” and “Frontier,” milder ears need not apply. Standouts “Methodone,” with its plucky glockenspiel, and the pulsating “Generation” give the robust vocalist the type of full-bodied arrangement he deserves to tangle with.

Over the course of three albums, it sometimes sounds like Augustine has more good ideas than he knows what to do with. It will be fascinating to watch this rare talent develop his eye for discretion.

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer.

 


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