Ian Knapp, Into These Oceans

Singer/songwriter Ian Knapp's "Into These Oceans" is one of those debut albums that'll be discussed years from now. It's an intense experience, packed with real emotions and smart lyrics - the kind of record that Bob Dylan's son should've recorded. "If the Aliens Came" opens the album on a darkly humorous note, accurately realizing that extraterrestrials would probably depart our beloved planet once they saw how dumb and evil we are. I'm surprised by the wide musical range on this album. I usually fear the 'singer/songwriter' tag as it often means some boring bloke with an acoustic guitar borrowed from his ex-hippie mum. None of that here. This is a shockingly confident and mature first LP.