Atticus Sorrell Opened a Jazz-Infused Pandora’s Box with the Sepia-Hued Psychedelic Soul Rock in ‘Paper Crane’ –

Always testing how far his roots as an orchestrator of psychedelic 70s soul rock will stretch, each release from Atticus Sorrell is revolutionary, and the sprawling, sepia-hued euphonia in his latest single, Paper Crane, takes nostalgia far beyond its usual orbit.

The way the grooves seem to dance from their own zealous soul volition makes Paper Crane feel like opening Pandora’s box; if Pandora’s box was filled with upbeat piano chops, shimmering organ tones and a rhythm section that leaves your heartbeat knotted around your heartstrings. The blues-rock guitar solo occupying the entire middle eight is a paradox in its ability to leave you hypnotised and adrenalised in the same frenetic breath, while the unfurling, jazz-infused scintillation in each progression feels like a five-minute explosion of pure soul, projected through tender-in-all-the-right-places provocation.

Born and raised in Northeast Indiana, Sorrell has become synonymous with singer-songwriter intimacy through soul, psychedelia, jazz and rock and roll, with Paper Crane leading into his second solo album, Ram and the Bull.

Inspired by the golden afterglow of Mind Games-era John Lennon, early 70s Todd Rundgren, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Roberta Flack, Steely Dan and pre-5 Lenny Kravitz, he writes love as memory, loss and grace. As for Atticus Sorrell’s voice in Paper Crane, he barely leaves any charisma for the rest of us with the sticky-sweet presence he brings to the visceral love song.

Paper Crane is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast