Common literary and cinematic logic dictates that should the protagonist of the story have a mentor, said mentor will, at some point, be removed from the story. Sadly, as is the case with singer-songwriter David Vandervelde, his story finds him on the verge of releasing his third LP, titled Big Lies, without the guidance of his late mentor and good friend Jay Bennett. As a result, he’s offered up the effort as a tribute.

The first track to surface is “More Than You Can Feel”, which sees Vandervelde taking a darker, appropriately elegiac turn with his music. Over one dirty guitar riff, Vandervelde cuts right to the bone with his haunting lyrics, conditioning his audience to a harder-edged form of songwriting than they’ve heard before. Still, the songwriter exudes the same heart-on-his-sleeve passion that’s brought him this far already, so it’s unlikely his surrounding faithful will run away spooked.

We’ll see soon, though. To give the new material a test-run, Vandervelde will be taking to New York City with a pair of dates later this month. Check out “More Than You Can Feel” below, as well as the dates of the two New York shows.

David Vandervelde – “More Than You Can Feel”

David Vandervelde 2011 Tour Dates
08/23 – New York, NY @ The Mercury Lounge
08/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory