Vincent Covello’s New Album “Torchlights”

Vincent Covello’s new album is Torchlights, released on digital platforms such as Spotify. At first glance, the album looks like a polished, sophisticated piece of adult pop entertainment, with a list of kitschy yet mature themed tracks to boot. But the album proves to be more than that, and you don’t have to listen for that long to clock what Covello is really about. There’s a sense he truly wants to live up to the long-lost tradition of the singer-songwriter, someone defined more by their musical prowess and writing abilities, than show-stopping tricks, effects, and presentational value.

Mr. Covello’s work harkens back to the era of types like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, or Art Garfunkel – not necessarily in terms of sound, but in terms of quality ambition. While he’s not reaching for the stars, he is reaching for far above average production value in every sense of the word, from the composition to the quality to his own vocal performance and how it blends into the sonic landscape Torchlights illuminates. This is helped by the fact Mr. Covello is not an overnight success story. His music has a workman quality to it, and for good reason. Mr. Covello has been in the music business for several decades now, and as a seasoned talent both in front of and beyond the microphone brings a genuinely informed marketing sense for how to position his solo act.

Covello’s best known effort at a major label prior to going independent was his work with Warner Bros. Records. This included his being involved with BT’s hit single Loving You More, a decidedly different sound to the sort of modern, bedroom-adjacent tinge of melancholy and heartache reminiscent in tracks such as Time Plays Us All, Torchlight, and Cry’n Eyes. Whereas working with BT produced a more electronic, MTV-inspired sound, Torchlights feels more personal and artistic.

There’s never the sense Covello is playing for a certain choir, rather like any true artist he’s made the record for himself. Part of its appeal lies within the raw, somewhat universal quality of the stories the tracks tell, accompanied by Covello’s assured, emotive but soothing vocals. Even when he touches on decidedly painful aspects, Covello never wavers from that sense of self-possession and finesse. The result is something wholly enjoyable, although I’d like to see someone a bit rougher around the edges.

When Covello really lets himself go, there’s this animalistic quality that really ups the ante in a dangerous, creative sort of way. Perhaps with a sophomore effort he can lean more into this, Torchlights does not disappoint – but in many ways it feels like the tip of the iceberg. It’ll be highly enjoyable where Covello takes his career next. By surrounding himself with independent-minded professionals like himself, Covello can pretty much go anywhere. That’s part of the fun. There’s no corporatized sheen separating the listener from Covello, by essentially downsizing to independent distribution methods he’s close and intimate.

Much like film, alternative methods to mass musical distribution are coming, and from a purely creative standpoint the potentiality there is extremely exciting. It’s nice to see both beginners and seasoned aficionados embracing this trend.

Michael Rand