Press
Daytrotter Session (May 2011) – live audio and artist feature
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Interview with Volume 1 Brooklyn
Artist feature on Go Folk Yourself
Live review from The Owl Mag (@ The Knockout – San Francisco, CA)
Live review from Tasty Fanzine (@ The Windmill -London, UK)
Live review from The Mezcal Trail (@ The Heeley Institute -Sheffield, UK)
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Noise of Welcome:
“Zachary Cale is the best singer-songwriter working right now. Period. ” -Matthew Fiander Pop Matters
“Although steeped in acoustic Americana, Zachary Cale separates himself from the crowd with a rare balance between emotional depth and ankle-deep Kinks pop sensibilities.” -The A.V. Club
“Zachary Cale is one of those unassuming guys who, once heard, earns your undying loyalty.” – Jason Diamond The Brooklyn Paper
“Zachary Cale is a Brooklyn songwriter of uncommon power” -David Greenwald Rawk Blog
“There’s no denying the liberation in making a record that sounds this full, and so full of purpose and promise.”-Doug Mosurock Dusted Magazine
“Cale has perfected a kind of avant-folk craziness that never sounds precious” -Ed Hurt Nashville Scene
“With fleet fingerpicking, languid ballads and country-tinged dust ups, Zachary Cale works along the folk rock divide recalling beloved troubadours like Michael Chapman, Bob Dylan and John and Beverly Martyn.” -Scott McDowell WFMU
“…memorable as a favorite scene in a favorite movie and eternal as the sun. With Zach Cale what you get is what you feel; anything more or less would be illusory.” -Grant Purdum Tiny Mix Tapes
“Cale has steadily worked the light back into his music on Noise Of Welcome, the stark beauty of his earlier work succeeded by a set of shimmering songs delivered by a band, but still set to poetry like Dylan or Cohen. It’s ambitious, the way great music has to be, and Cale comes out of it as both accomplished soloist and band leader.” -Matthew Haddrill The Line of Best Fit
“The songs that he wrote for his band’s latest and best album, “Noise of Welcome,” are configures of the riddles that he finds himself wracked by on a daily basis. They are the kinds of thoughts that come at a truly contemplative man when he gives himself over to those good chunks of solitude that seemingly scare the daylights out of us, but actually allow us to figure some things out… It’s music that makes you imagine – or recognize – time slipping by like rolling highway scenery. They are songs that ask you if you feel as if you’re actually living or if you’re just being worked or drained to the death. The songs remind us how great the cost is for nearly everything – the good or the bad – and the choice has to be made how you’re going to waste your time, who you’re going to waste it with.” -Sean Moeller Daytrotter
Noise of Welcome review in Titel Magazine (Germany)
“New York transplant, Zachary Cale’s folk sound is as beautifully raw as they come. Local audiences enjoy quietly reflective ballads from this shaggy haired musician. His unusual voice and poetic songwriting are pleasantly welcomed surprises.” -NYC’s BEST LOCAL MUSICIANS Bea Broderick CBS NY
“Zachary Cale’s music sticks to you like gritty, summer dust well past the first listen” -Valerie Veteto The Owl Mag
“Noise Of Welcome is an understated collection of stunning, orchestral beauty.” -Alex Green Caught in the Carousel
“[Zachary Cale] has that rare talent of being able to make you forget what else is going on around you and immerse yourself fully in the world he creates – superb.” -John Grain The Mad Mackerel
“The album (Noise of Welcome) retains Cale’s signature sound, which recalls Oh Mercy-era Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Finger-picked guitar and easygoing percussion provide the backdrop for Cale’s searching, subtly biting vocals. Yet this new album also shows exciting growth, with a broader vocal range and more experimental production.” -Sophie Gandler Beacon Pass
“Zachary’s hypnotic voice draws you into the stories he tells and the backing vocals add a kind of warmth to the album… Noise of Welcome brings the modern alternative folksy style into the past to meet its country predecessors.” -Anna Gustafson Flocked Media
“This is a finely crafted album chalk full of melodies and poignantly beautiful moments.” -Jon Neudorf Sea of Tranquility
“Romantic woodsy lyrics accompanied by ardent Andy Cabic/Bob Dylan-esque vocals and fresh guitar.” -Bonnie Stiernberg Paste Magazine
“Dylan-esque vocals, over uplifting, meditative songwriting.” -Alex Staniloff Free Indie
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Come Quietly single:
“Contemporary psych/folk anchored by amazing songwriting.” -Scott McDowell WFMU – Top 12 2010
“Cale has that perfectly imperfect world-weary voice—like there’s a frog caught in his throat, but he has so much wisdom to share, he’s not going to let that stop him from singing.” -Lauren Beck L Magazine
“Zachary Cale’s voice has a sardonic and cutting edge to it that brings to mind at times Current 93’s David Tibet or Comus’ Roger Wootton, which stops the well constructed melodies from being merely pretty and floating off into the clouds.” -Chris Strunk Still Single
“Outside of the new Tallest Man on Earth, these have to be two of the best new folky sounding songs I’ve heard all year. Killer tracks.” -Michael Klausman Other Music
“There’s a certain gruff waver to Cale’s voice, the way it bites at the edge of your eardrum that hefts it out of the standard doldrums of a man with a guitar. Real emotion lives in the vocals Cale projects, and his ruminations on love and its numerous varied outcomes, good bad ugly, have a tangible weight to them.” -Noah Sanders Sound on the Sound
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See-Saw (Illuminations):
“See Saw is the best album I’ve reviewed for Still Single, hands down… You think it’s easy to operate within the confines of Americana/roots-rock/alt-country without coming off as insufferable slummers or instantly-forgettable rural action figures? It isn’t, but Illuminations do this … perfectly. As a closing clarifier, See Saw dabbles in enough Elephant Six-isms and dressed-down indie rock to carry a wide appeal. If this band sticks to it, they will be huge. You know … in a good way.”
-Andrew Earles Still Single – Dusted Magazine
“While See-Saw plays perfectly normal, if slightly buzzed, what makes Illuminations exceptional is their no-fear strokes at epicness; the woozy into raging anthem endgame of “Rising,” the seven-minute tin-pan hymnal of “We All Say Goodnight,” and the constantly atmospheric vibe of “Laundry List” could compete with any lukewarm fuzzies induced by the globe’s current crop of stadium cozies (Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol). That might ring hollow, but that only means they deliver genuine pop songs through grand gestures. Unlike those bands, this seems in earnest with no self-importance attached. -Kevin J. Elliott The Agit Reader
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Walking Papers:
“Zachary Cale is a songwriter’s songwriter, as prolific as he is original. His voice can be delicate for love or wry for satire. The ability to hear what is in a song has guided him well in the making of his own.” -John Allen WFMU
“Spare, chilly, indie soundtrack-worthy folk that nods to its influences without attempting to revive them.”
-Daoud Tyler-Ameen WNYC
“Playing solo and with full band accompaniment, this loner/Leonard Cohen acolyte plays an accomplished guitar and writes serious lyrics with poetic depth.” -Doug Mosurock Still Single
“Dark, chilly folk that’s as beautifully modern as it is solidly rooted in its influences.” -Alex Garrison KJHK
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Outlander Sessions:
“Cale (no relation to John or J.J. from what I gather) comes across on the straightahead folk-stone tip, languishing in the lazy glow of coal heat against cold skin. He’s a good guitarist, a fine songwriter somewhere between a Doug Martsch type and a heartbroken Tim Hardin” -Doug Mosurock Still Single
