Trevor Hall's 2011 release,
Everything Everytime Everywhere, saw the South Carolina-based songwriter moving away from the reggae-heavy, acoustic roots sound of his earlier albums in favor of a more eclectic summertime pop mix. In the years that followed,
Hall saw himself slowing down, and he eventually decided to take a sabbatical from music. His fifth album, 2014's
Chapter of the Forest, bears the results of that personal break with a set of thoughtful, meditative songs that strip down his sound to a core of gentle acoustic guitar and light percussion ornamented with sitar and other atmospherically ethnic accompaniment. His embrace of Buddhism has always produced a spiritual undertone in his music and it finally gets a more direct focus here as he lends his soulful voice to 12 new songs about life, love, hope, pain, and most of all, growth. ~ Timothy Monger