Jonathan Wilson’s Gentle Spirit sounds like an album that could have been made in Laurel Canyon in the early ’70s. Wilson had become deeply immersed in its music and history and described his inspiration as “that golden late ‘60s, early ‘70s period when rural and urban sensibilities colluded in producing some of rock’s most imperishable recordings.”
As a longtime student of Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon, its musical heritage, and its Canyon culture, Wilson wanted his musical ideas to “echo many of an earlier generation.” You can hear that influence throughout Gentle Spirit, with elements of folk and psychedelic rock alongside the laid back sound of early ’70s Laurel Canyon. The songs are spacious and unhurried, filled with acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, harmonies, and long instrumental passages. But it never feels like Wilson is simply trying to recreate the past.
Gentle Spirit is slow burning, mellow, laid back, and beautifully played. It’s an album I can put on, settle into, and happily stay with for the next hour and twenty minutes.
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