For more than 30 years, Shane Fontayne has
been building an impressive resume. The former member of Lone Justice
has toured in Bruce Springsteen’s band and worked with such
artists as Paul Simon, Steve Forbert and Rod Stewart. Finally,
we get his first solo effort. At the core, What Nature Intended
is Fontayne’s amazing guitar work and his wide-ranging vocals.
He throws elements of jazz, blues and world music into lush, soaring
melodies. At times the disc evokes the work of artists as varied
as the Beatles and early Fleetwood Mac on one end of the spectrum
(Sean Lennon plays drums on one very Fab Four-esque track), and
T-Bone Burnett, Charlie Sexton and Tonio K on the other. There
are laid-back rockers ("Weight of the World"), dreamily
mellow tunes ("So High") and beautifully evocative testaments
of love ("You’ll Never Know"). Fontayne has a groove
all his own and it sounds as if he’s just getting started.
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