Joel Ansett woos with alluring debut, ‘The Nature Of Us’

December 28th, 2015

Brian Leak

Spokane, Washington’s Joel Ansett is riding high on the waves of success his full-length debut, The Nature Of Us, has created. Funded by a $25,000 Kickstarter campaign, Ansett was able to write and record this album for the better part of a year before releasing the 12-track result this November.

Hitting impressive numbers on the iTunes singer-songwriter album charts, The Nature Of Us is packed with heart and honesty in ofttimes delicate compositions led by acoustic guitar and Ansett’s warm, welcoming vocals. There are moments mellow and relaxing and others upbeat and ready for Top 40 radio, ones that elicit thoughts of a Jack Johnson/Maroon 5 hybrid of sorts. It’s smooth pop, folk and R&B all rolled into one.

On his personal website, Ansett explains of the album:

“Who am I?” At the outset, I think I’d rather not ask that question. I like to dismiss it as cheesy or trite, but I think the truth is, I’m scared to ask that question. And if I ever do get the boldness up to ask it, I don’t like to dwell on it for too long. So with this album, I was trying to be brave and ask that question over and over again. It led to some amazing highs and amazing lows and each song on this record presents a different layer of that identity. While it’s obviously not an all-encompassing picture of who we are as humans, I hope the songs bring revelation for us to see ourselves and our life stories more clearly.

Various physical and digital purchase options for The Nature Of Us are available on Ansett’s website. His newest video for single “Turn To Gold” can be viewed below. Let us know what you think.