As a difficult second album goes, this is a total breeze rather than a mainsail-battering ocean storm.
Saltwater finds Crane and company on a voyage not to a destination, but to create more voyages, and that open-ended sense of discovery – a sense both honest and totally cunning – makes this a rewarding record, for players and listener alike.
Crane has a fine voice, midrange and emotive, but he uses the same tone, volume, and pacing almost all the way through. As a result, the first half of Saltwater congeals into ambient mush.
Saltwater is a pretty record and the songs are clearly heavy with personal significance, but it was almost better when they were a little rough around the edges.
Listening to Saltwater you realise that, while the album contains nothing seriously off-putting, you grow tired of Brazos’ style when listening to it.
... Saltwater is very much a showcase for Crane. His ability to write a simple acoustic-based song and turn it immense through layered multi-instrumentation is impressive.