Minneapolis, Minnesota based songwriter SEAN SHIFF brings his music to the public with the release of his second song MEDICINE LAKE.

Starting with a single introducing guitar, the song soon develops in to a well round song with the theme of the climate in the face of global-warming. It’s refreshing and airy to the ears. The music’s structure is not a heavy one and does not take too much space off of your awareness, which allows you to actually pay attention to the lyrics. His sound is rich with colour, multilayered and with soft guitar tones. The acoustic guitar driven rhythms and the clear vocals in this case do not make a catchy single, but that is not something that was intended at all. In spite of the topic being up to date SEAN SHIFF manages to present this very charged topic in a serious but still very light way. There is no finger pointing nor are there accusations, furthermore MEDICINE LAKE is a very modern and refreshing take on a political song and as such it is timeless.

 

It stirs your emotions and swells your awareness for the world that surrounds you without being judgemental or overly didactic. It just simply lays its cards on the table for you to see and judge for yourself.

As SHIFF points out, as the composer and writer of the song, he only focused on that part of the creative process. For the vocals and instrumental work, Sean hires local artists and musicians to sing and perform his songs, which is interesting but it does not diminish the song at all.

Taking influence from folk, rock and country as well as poets and philosophers, SEAN SHIFF delivers music that is lyrically deep and strongly founded in storytelling, which makes me even consider the genre Americana, but you should definitely listen to it yourself and make up your own mind.