When I met Jeff Stuckel by chance in my living room a few months ago, I wouldn’t have guessed him to be a spoken word poet and hip hop artist mentioned in HM Magazine – nonetheless someone involved with Audiofeed Festival. I suppose this sort of thing shouldn’t surprise me anymore – many of the best artists I’ve come to know in recent months have been very humble and people that are just fun to know as friends. But you aren’t reading this to hear me ramble about friendship. You want to know about an album called Left Handed Son. Or, you’re Jeff’s friend and you’re clicking on a link he posted. Hopefully that wasn’t overly presumptuous.
Make no mistake, the aim of Tuned Up isn’t for this writer to promote his friends. It’s to promote good music – period. Left Handed Son I had heard about in passing long before I ever met Jeff in person. I’ll say this – the passion on this record is personal and quite a contrast from Jeff’s humble, kind demeanor.
“Altar/Offering” kicks things off with a beat that has some real muscle, and one of the closest things to a traditional sounding hip hop track you’ll hear on the project. Strong vocals from worship leader Joshua Miller carry the hook. Some of you might recognize this name from another project we’ve lauded recently – the very solid EP from indie rock outfit (pun intended) Fashion Week. Jeff’s flow is confident and clear – clearly sounding a banner that extends for the duration of the EP. “A Ghost Key” is a more straightforward spoken word track, but the emotion gets turned up to level 11 in “Babylon,” which features the ethereal vocals of Jocelyn Nicolas. “These are surely the last days!” Stuckel cries in the climax of the song, exploding into a juxtaposition of noise and beauty – a sonic expression of a desperate man trying to navigate his own thoughts while sounding a warning. It’s gripping. Also gripping is the title track which is in a grey area that’s neither pure hip hop nor spoken word. I have to give kudos to Aaron Nicolas at this point in time for embodying Jeff’s vision so well in how the compositions turned out.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VM-z2ai_vg[/youtube]The record continues with the vulnerable “Banner,” a mix of encouragement and ponderings of one’s role as a son or daughter of God. Libby Johnson sings clearly a refrain that concludes with a powerful admonition – “…Let truth decide who He declares I am to be.” We live under a loving God Whose power cannot be understated. Let Him decide your truth and find freedom in that. I think this is the message that underlies “Left Handed Son.” The fact is there’s much more to this record we have yet to touch on but Jeff has packed so much to think about here that we could continue this conversation for a very long time.
I can’t wait to hear what happens when this guy starts touring.
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