Local contemporary Christian vocalist/guitarist Tom Taylor’s catalogue now extends to 12 albums dating back to 2008. There are eight full-length studio albums averaging about 14 Tom Taylor original, acoustic guitar-based compositions each, with one tribute single, “Jen’s Song: A Tribute to Jen Bulik-Lang,” also floating around. To bring that tally to a dozen, Tom pulled together four compilation albums from his original works over the years for 2013’s The Definitive Collection, 2016’s The Very Best of Tom Taylor, and 2021’s vinyl exclusive release, Anthology: 2008-2021, presenting personal favorites, fan favorites and the super-life-affirming-themed songs of his career, respectively. As for the theme of Taylor’s most recent collection, Love Songs: Chapter One: it should be obvious—love.
As we last left Taylor, his hope was dwindling by the end of his very dark 2021 album Heart on My Sleeve. Tom had been processing a lonely lot in life, out in the “wilderness,” but, just as the Lord provides patience with unrelenting faith, there’s plenty of love to recall in Taylor’s Love Songs: Chapter One, released in 2022 on Tom Taylor Ministries Records. The compilation not only rejoices over a reinvigorated will to live and a restart after a rough six years, but echoes along local hillsides the unspoken fact that Tom didn’t jump into a quarry.
It takes only one swing of the hammer to nail down the theme with Love Songs’ opener, “When I Say That I Love You,” as more of a simple love song rather than one containing any direct mention of Jesus or God. Those references are more insinuated on this round, which leaves room for other optimism regarding humanity such as love for people, all to a soft piano eventually mixing with Taylor’s subdued acoustic guitar, bass, synthesized strings and harmony from Tom Taylor’s signature vocals—which take cues from James Taylor and Josh Groban and really round out the sound of this ballad.
“Nothing Left to Lose” has a Spanish-style flair in guitar play, lyrically consoling the “hurt and abused” to remain steadfast, as there’s nothing left to lose. It’s a foot-tapper, actually, impressive in its wisdom and production value, but with such precise, clean presence on each instrument’s notes interacting with one another it’s as if the individual sections of an orchestra were designated and programmed to their own section of a computer-driven keyboard for the maestro (Tom) to punch-orchestrate like an octopus playing piano. With only four or five instruments tracked on this soothing Cuban-classical-esque single, that’d leave a few free tentacles to wave in the air, too.
“I’m Missing You” is the first darker-themed track on Love Songs . . . but a good reason to work in some string ensemble sounds to a composition perhaps inspired by synth in The Labyrinth. Taylor revisits a more soulful, yearning vocal style that’s still in him, too. However, the following track, “Lovely One,” is a walking-bass doo-wop number outlining a proposal fantasy, romancing years down the road to an eventual, robust, wall-of-sound crescendo that can walk you peacefully along the lake’s edge at night.
A thought: If “I’m Missing You” seems to be kind of a weird regression in the artist’s recovery, “Without You” (track 7), also found on 2017’s I Will Trust, doesn’t suggest a reset or starting over; probably best to listen without an expectation of a perfectly linear timeline, and to remember that no journey is without its missteps.
As a whole, Love Songs: Chapter One is a new-lease-on-life love album with some faint, worrisome hints of the past still creeping in. The production value and choices, excellent harmony work, its emphasis on Taylor’s synth work, and other melodic flitters all work together to vividly present the highs and lows of a journey. The previous album, Heart on My Sleeve, was a cliffhanger (and winner of WVIU Radio’s 2022 Album of the Year).
Love Songs: Chapter One, as well as the full catalogue from which it’s derived, can be found on Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Soundcloud and Bandcamp, with Spotify probably being the most organized and user-friendly presentation of the Tom Taylor catalog. For updates on Tom Taylor, contact information and more on TTM Records, visit tomtaylorministries.net.
