Jon and Roy – Let it Go album review

“Let it go”, Jon and Roy’s fourth studio album is a work of art that fits perfectly with their succession of albums. Many a time do I notice that artists create albums or songs that have with no particular flow to them or that don’t fit with their “original” sound.

Often times, an artist will destroy the essence of their lyrics just so that they can fit in with mainstream society and with musical consumerism. Musical consumerism is the situation where artists play songs that only appeal to their fans and are what their fans demand to hear, versus playing songs that come from their hearts and souls all in the fear of not producing enough money. It’s the unfortunate truth.

However, it’s nice to finally see a band that from their inception to the present, continue to keep their integrity. That is true of the olden days where music was actually about the music and not about how many albums sold, so it is refreshing to see that a small time band from Canada keeping it real and old school with their music. My faith in music is slowly being restored.

Upon listening to Jon and Roy, one thing that really attracted me about their music was their folk sound, their light swing rhythm and their predominant use of acoustic instruments. It’s actually a sound that’s hard to explain, but it makes me feel like going outside and enjoying the natural breeze and freedom.

Most of their songs, “Mountain Town,” “Let it Go,” “Tavern Song,” and “Where We Gonna Go,” especially captures this essence of freedom in their lyrics and in their upbeat, plucky sound.  The album is filled with get-up-and-go music that makes you feel good.  It’s music that is relaxing to the ears especially in the way singer-songwriter, Jon Middleton, extends a warm invitation through his gruff vocals for you to keep listening.