Concept albums have been around in the rock world for a long time. The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers was considered one of the first, though its songs were largely unrelated. But theme-based albums flourished in the days of art rock and psychedelia. Since digital downloads and streaming have pretty much de-constructed the idea of a coherent album, concept albums as such have waned. But this week, we have what I suppose could be described as a lyrical theme-based concept album by a singer-songwriter. It’s the new eighth release by Upstate New York based Will Stratton, and it’s called Points of Origin.

Though based in the Empire State, Will Stratton is a native of Northern California, but was largely raised in New Jersey. But his birth state is very much at the center of Points of Origin, with the California fires playing an important role in providing the backdrop for several of the songs.

Will Stratton began piano lessons at age four, and went on to study music at Bennington College in Vermont, after he had changed his major from philosophy to music composition. He released his first album while still in college and incorporated some of his college coursework into its music, showing a little classical influence. But a big source of inspiration was also the late English singer-songwriter Nick Drake – he calls himself a Drake “disciple.” Stratton also professes his influence by Sufjan Stevens, who made a guest appearance on one of Stratton’s early albums. That combination of musical introspection and subtle sophistication has won him a lot of praise. We featured his previous album The Changing Wilderness on this review series, and none other than Elton John called it “a beautiful album” on his podcast radio show.

For his new release, Stratton continues his contemplative-sounding music, with perhaps a little less of his outstanding finger-picking guitar style, but with more instrumental colors, including a good deal of piano, plus including some strings, and even occasionally a steel guitar.

This time, also, the songs revolve around northern California, and a series of invented characters, sometimes speaking in the first person, a prisoner recruited to be on the fire line, an artist turned real estate broker who makes his money selling properties that are may be doomed by the ravages of climate change induced floods or fires. His lyrics are delivered in his warm, though occasionally melancholy-sounding vocals, often reminiscent of Nick Drake.

The albums opens with I Found You a song about a drifter and who settled down, in an area threatened by wildfires. <<>>

More intimate in sound is a piece called Jesusita about prisoners brought in to fight the fires. <<>>

The theme continues in a song called Firewatcher about another convict, perhaps an escapee, serving as an isolated fire warden on the lookout for fires. <<>>

Some of the more intriguing lyrics come on a piece called Delta Breeze, in which the fires again form a backdrop, with the protagonist being a nuclear weapons scientist, considering the state of the world, and the place of his work in it. <<>>

Red Crossed Star is another lyrically intriguing piece considering the changes to a place over the span of history. <<>>

Taking a country-influenced direction is Temple Bar again set in the fire country, reminiscing about a friendly watering hole, that at the end of the song, is destroyed by the fire. <<>>

One of the most appealing songs for me is a track called Higher and Drier done featuring Stratton’s nice finger-picking guitar style. It’s another interesting story, about an aspiring artist who ends up selling vulnerable real estate to mostly out-of-staters, unaware of the threats posed by floods and fires. <<>>

The albums closes with Slab City with a complicated story about an ex-CIA man who became an arsonist. <<>>

Points of Origin, the new eighth album by singer-songwriter Will Stratton, is, I think, a brilliant work that combines often intriguing lyrical storytelling, sometimes with plot twists,, woven around a backdrop of the wildfires in California, performed in a very attractive musical setting, with Stratton again showing his influence by Nick Drake. It’s a bit more orchestrated than some of Stratton’s previous work, but with the mostly acoustic musical textures just right for the songs. The production is understated, and the arrangements and Stratton’s attractive vocals make the album a great listen even without considering the lyrics.

Our grade for audio quality is an A-minus, with a nice mix with everything proportioned well, but the clarity on some of the instruments, and the dynamic range could have been better.

A singer-songwriter concept album is rare thing these days, but Will Stratton pulls it off with his Points of Origin album with a lot of class.

(c) Copyright 2025 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
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<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

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