Blair Lott

By Ryan Kennedy

Blair Lott - Rooms and Boxes
The man himself described these nine tracks as being representative of 'a place and time, rich with joy and heartache, a slice of one period of my life,' and more than anything this is what comes through
Every track is a short story that fits together to form a jigsaw of a very beautiful picture. It is perhaps the personality dripping from it that is something missing from most albums these days - the raw exposure that doesn't need to be about pure heartache, but can delight as much as it can depress.
Lott's voice echoes a little of the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon - whose vocals always made me feel I should listen, because I'm being told something very interesting - and it's the same tone continuing here. There is no attempt at copycatting, but the slight similarity only greatened the appeal for me.
In fact with tracks like Half the Way There, with a frankly lovely simplicity Lott really comes into his own, and from beginning to end you forget everything that is going on around you - the true test of of an artist. You feel like you are almost breathing in time with the song, and as a result, it has made it into my top three from the past year - pure connection.
This is the sort of album that you should take time out of your life to listen to, don't play it on your way to work, don't have it on in the background while you are studying - because it will be lost on you. You'll feel you have heard the instrumentals before, and will fail to grasp what makes this album truly unique - which would be a real shame for you. But once you've given this album your full attention, feel free to leave it on in the background, and it will get into your head as if you were looking at a scapbook of memories with Lott himself, and it'll make your day a little bit sunnier. Very pretty indeed.
- FAME Magazine - Belfast N. Ireland, UK

With a robust, forlorn voice and somber songs that sound like they were all recorded in the middle of the night, Atlanta songwriter Blair Lott cooks up a low-key winner with his new CD, Rooms and Boxes. The one time vocalist for Atlanta band Ruben Kincaid has been on an extended sabbatical in Australia for the past several years, which is where Rooms and Boxes was recorded. - Stomp and Stammer - Jeff Clark

Atlanta based Blair Lott, formerly frontman for Ruben Kincaid, has a new solo album called “Rooms and Boxes” coming out October 17th. The new album is sincere, personal, very powerful. The songwriting is also unprecedented, from start to finish it’s a very intense album. RoS is glad to feature a few tracks off of this exciting upcoming release. - Raeofsound.com

Blair Lott
Rooms and Boxes
GGP/Paperback Graveyard Records

You can’t accuse singer-songwriter Blair Lott of rushing out his material. As a member of Athens pop-rock band Ruben Kincaid in the ‘80s, he released one album and one video during the group’s ten-year tenure. And that album was the last he was heard of in the States -- until now.

Since his days as Kincaid frontman and songwriter, Lott logged a considerable amount of time in Australia, writing and working with some of the finest musicians in Oz, including The Badloves’ Michael Spiby. On his own leisurely schedule, he wrote, recorded and finally released Rooms And Boxes, his first proper solo album. Here, he takes the passionate and erudite approach of his earlier work with Ruben Kincaid and elevates it to a more “adult” level. He’s never been a “cars and girls” songwriter anyway, but in the confines of Rooms, he takes his finely-tuned vignettes to the conversational level of Elvis Costello’s finest work.

The Augusta-bred Lott blends his southern-rock roots into a fine gumbo, seasoned with the finest of Melbourne, Australia’s tangy spices. Some tracks simmer with a brooding Stax sensuality (“Clear”) while others bristle with the observational insights of John Hiatt (“Already Left You (In My Mind)”).

Fans of the intelligent pop of The Church and Nick Lowe should definitely check out this understated collection of songs. Each track resonates with lingering, occasionally unsettling, always insanely catchy imagery.
- Georgia Music Magazine

Blair Lott's "Rooms and Boxes" CD highlighted in Creative Loafing's 2007 music issue as one of the "cream of Atlanta's current crop" in this annual critic's list. - Creative Loafing critics pick the cream of Atlanta's current crop

Blair Lott - Rooms And Boxes - CD
(Paperback Graveyard Records) Blair Lott has a lounge-rock thing going on and it works quite well. I think this is what Morphine would have sounded like if they went with the traditional 4-piece rock band set-up. The tune "Already Left You (In My Mind)" has a Leonard Cohen quality about it, while "Rooms and Boxes" and "She Touches Water" reminded me of Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance. This is a band I definitely want to hear more from in the future.
-- Mite Mutant (2007) - The Chickenfish Speaks

The first thing you notice about Blair Lott’s music is his distinctive & snug voice. The world around you stops… now your only focus is him. Soon you find yourself bonding as if he’s confiding only in you, his close chum since the elementary school years.

The more we listened to this release the more we got out of it, and each time enjoying it even more.

Our favorites: ‘Clear’, ‘Already Left You (In My Mind), ‘The Promise’, ‘Dying in Time’, ‘Moving Sand’, and ‘She Touches Water’
- Babble and Beat

Blair’s voice is deep yet soft with a low-key mellow delivery that’ll have you curling up and pulling yourself a little closer to the stage. Based in Atlanta, he traveled to the land down under (Melbourne to be specific) on a one-way ticket and wrote this album. It’s a modern rock approach to the singer/songwriter format and there’s a little bit of saucy blues rock mixed in for good measure.

- J-Sin
- Smother Music Magazine