Artist Close Up: Justin Levinson Makes Listeners Say “Yes, Man”

In a time where America has a dreary political climate, music has become, to many, an outlet of solace. Nothing like a good song to give you a spiritual uplift, and Justin Levinson’s Yes, Man has plenty of them. Bringing a 1960’s pop vibe with a subtle 70’s rock flare, Levinson has made an album that feels like a morning run through sunshine.

When I first heard Yes, Man, I felt like I had taken a morning run through a park. Its rhythms feel like the crisp wind that caresses your body as you run freely both to get in shape and feel alive. In some ways,  Justine Levinson’s album is the equivalent of both affects.  Through his lyrics, he asks for your heart to become fitter emotionally like “Colleen Compassion”, “I’ll Move Closer”, and “The Moment I Laid Eyes On You”. Each song seems dedicated to giving love a chance, and having the privileged opportunity to either give it to someone else or receive it. Such a mentality is what keeps Yes, Man feeling so light as an album and sweet in intention. You get the feeling that Levinson had no darkness or malice when he composed and wrote his songs. I know that is a strange assessment, but many artists see music as way to express their darker thoughts/ feeling or way to make a grand, social statement. Yet, there is a purity Levinson’s singing and style that shows his intentions were fun. He uses what makes him smile, music, to make you smile and it worlds. Hearing him sing with an inherent glee makes heartbreaking songs like “Scared of Losing You” and “Broken Heart Running” sound laced with the potential of positivity.

There is something special and beautiful to say that at your darkest, your light shines more. It is, in essence, a personal goal for every human being, and what Levinson has achieved in Yes, Man.

Maybe it the hints of Beatles-esque psychedelia that courses through his arrangements or his expanding, plush vocals, but this album feels good to hear. Unequivocally, Levinson has achieved the Yes! he has desired by having a voice that sounds like a genuine welcome given to you at an open door. He makes you want to enter his music like a home, and relish the arrangements he has made because they always sound bright and vast. Hence, my comment of his expanding voice, which I meant to capture that he always sound like he is going somewhere. Even when the songs ends, his voice stays in your mind moving its thoughts around like furniture. He simply cannot be brought down and  in songs such as, “Homewrecking Machine”, he makes the most eclectic, lyrical rhymes sound like good-luck charms on a bracelet. Its a a real gift to listeners to have an artist that can discuss the way lovers’ use, abuse, and toss out hearts, but still make you feel that there is a lover out there that will not. For More Information On Justin Levinson Click Here.