Folk artist William Fitzsimmons’ sixth studio album, “Lions,” does not skimp on emotive enthusiasm.

Fitzsimmons’ music has received acclaim and notice through its use in popular films and television episodes, most notably on “Grey’s Anatomy” where his song ,“Passion Play,” was used.

The music and lyrics on “Lions” are deeply sincere and brilliantly composed while focusing on interpersonal experiences. The album opens with “Well Enough,” a song so clear that it stirs into acoustic rhythm like water that slowly seeps onto a shoreline of vocals, churning and wetting the ground. Fitzsimmons’ voice glides gently across this stringed canvas like a bird, dipping its feathers into water and rising, delicately soaring off into the distance.

Advertisement

“Josie’s Song” starts its fluid body steadily slow yet hesitantly quickens. The sound billows through the strings, vibrating under the soft vocal arrangement while piano keys drop like rainfall in perfect accompaniment. The keys take the rhythm and build in a slight wave-like crescendo then fade, leaving only haunting high-notes on their exit.

The third song, “Brandon,” emphasizes acoustic inspiration and takes up a thematically intrinsic sound similar to artists like Sufjan Stevens. It wholeheartedly swells like a river over an oxbow and then recedes quietly back into its bank.

Fitzsimmons takes a different approach in “Took,” which rises through electric strings that reverberate around drumming cymbal taps and a heavy-breathing voice. The atmosphere pours out as its drum kicks resound like falling stones tearing from a great precipice only to splash deeply, clamorously into ocean swells.

The artist begins to recollect the early days of his career in “Fortune” — the song is reminiscent of “Passion Play” and “Just Not Each Other,” but has a quicker tempo than either. This exploration of new territory continues on “Centralia,” which has a distorted and distant sound.

The track “Blood/Chest” wallows in a heavy serenity, as if the melody is made of water so intrinsic that the listener would drown to be a part of it.

As the album builds, listeners will find subtle surprises of harmonic cadences and distant reverberations. The sounds are melodic and surreal like a controlled tempest.

“Lions” can be purchased on Amazon or iTunes, or streamed on Spotify. More information on the artist can be found at williamfitzsimmons.com.

Advertisement*