Review: Sawyer Fredericks Finds His Band on 'Flowers For You'

One of the more gratifying things about reviewing albums for a long time is that you can track artists' evolution over time, particularly very young artists. While Sawyer Fredericks has more experience at 21 than most 30 year olds, having been a nationally touring artist since he won The Voice in 2015, it was his independent debut release Hide Your Ghost in 2018 that truly established his career arc. Now, with his second independent album, Flowers For You, Fredericks is expanding his sound even more, moving from bluesy folk into more expansive Americana, rock, and tinges of jazz.

The first thing you notice upon listening to Flowers For You is that this isn't a Sawyer Fredericks the solo artist album. This is an album by Sawyer Fredericks the band, who just happens to have a singer with the same name, kind of like an Americana Alice Cooper. After a few years of gigging together on the road, the gelling effect on Fredericks and his band (Gannon Ferrell on bass, Chris Thomas on drums, and Jerome Goosman on guitar) fills Flowers For You, from the bass-driven (and even bass soloed at one point) “Amen” to the Spanish guitar flourishes on “Lies You Tell.”

But the band isn't the only evolutionary step Fredericks takes on this album. Lyrically, you'd think an album called Flowers For You would be more optimistic than one called Hide Your Ghost, but you'd be wrong. This is a much darker, and in places angrier, album lyrically. It's these places where Fredericks doesn't pull his lyrical punches that produce the album's best cuts.

The album's undisputed highlight track is “Call It Good.” Backed by a ZZ Top-esque blues riff, Fredericks takes his vocal rasp to 11 for a politically charged song with an environmental theme, not surprising for someone who grew up on a family farm and began his performing career busking in farmer markets. With lyrics like “Tear the seams and throw it all away. The food ain’t spoiled and yet it goes to waste” or “All our cares are leaving. Thoughts and prayers won’t change these greedy minds, who’d trade the world for a dime” it's a song that is powerful in its rawness, and one that wouldn't have been possible without the huge instrumental step forward this albums features.

Another album highlight is “Stalker.” Arguably the closest to a hard rock song on the album, complete with shredding guitar solo, it's also the darkest entry on Flowers For You. While Fredericks has likely been more likely to be a victim of a stalker than one himself, he enters the mindset of an obsessed fan with chilling accuracy. By the time he gets to the bridge, “can't you see how in love I am? Such a shame we haven't met. Can't you see how much in common we have? True love should not be... questioned”, you're lured in. It's the album's shortest song, but arguably its most impactful.

But it's not all darkness and social activism on Flowers For You. “Not My Girl” is a wistful look at what could have been. “Born” examines young people striving to forge their own identities, sometimes in the face of parental disapproval. The title track is a jaunty, mostly acoustic love song that is the closest to the material those familiar with Hide Your Ghost will recognize.

At 21, Sawyer Fredericks has decades to settle into a “signature” sound (or not. Rush never did). For now, he's at the age where musical experimentation is a very good thing. Flowers For You is a huge step in a new direction. In this reviewer's opinion, it's the right direction. Every good artist has a band that is skilled enough to push him to keep up with them every night. If he can hold on to them for the long haul, Sawyer Fredericks has found that band and Flowers For You is much better for it.

You can pick up Flowers For You May 1 at your favorite independent record store or at Sawyer Fredericks' website.