Straight out of Mississippi, former American Idol contestant Seth Power brings his A-game for his first ever acoustic album. Souvenir (Acoustic), named after his first full-length album, Souvenir, includes acoustic versions of songs off his latest project.
Souvenir started out in 2017 as a project to help process things from his past haunting him, and later turned into a work of art that he considers “every song a souvenir.” “I basically wanted to write an album to put a cap on the past and feel like I finally worked through past events and cast them in a positive light,” Power says, “The album itself is a nod to the past, like souvenirs, where you look back at them and relive it.”
If you’re looking for that coffee-house vibe without actually going to a cafe, sit down on the comfiest chair in your home, grab a cup of coffee, a good pair of headphones and chill out to set the mood for Seth’s newest project. While including most of the same songs, the acoustic version of this album is very different musically from its namesake, as it was intended to be. This entire album is a tribute to how Seth normally writes music — without the glitz and the glam of the pianos and backup vocalists — it’s just him and his acoustic guitar.
“Stay Asleep,” a touching song originally recorded with dulcet pianos and soft harmonies that create a well-rounded song that’s very reminiscent of an old John Mayer single, translates into an intimate, beautiful song that, if you close your eyes, paints a picture of being serenaded in front of a cottage fireplace deep in the woods. The solo guitar paired with Seth’s raw vocals somehow turns this already catchy song into something cozier and more euphonious.
“The melody for ‘Stay Asleep’ really came to me when I was 19 walking down the street in Chicago, but the song really came together three days later when I went back home, sat down with my car, and miraculously played it exactly the way it sounds on the album,” Seth says, “It’s so different from how I usually write, and it’s really special that it happened like that. I really feared that I wasn’t going to remember it.”
Photo by J.B. Lawrence
Even awaiting the release of their newest album, Seth and his team are already in the process of writing for the next album and creating a four part docu-series called The Last Seven Years following the creation of Souvenir with a behind-the-scenes look at the songwriting process as well as integral clips from the last seven years — a real treat for those who truly want to see a more vulnerable side of the artist behind the guitar.
“All the inspiration and writing for these albums occurred during the past seven years, so this will give fans a more in depth background about me and these projects,” says Seth, “We want to create an experience that you can’t get anywhere else. The future looks really good.”
The Last Seven Years documentary will be released on Seth’s Facebook page and YouTube this August. Souvenir (Acoustic) is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.