Fernando Perdomo: “Self” (2024) CD Review

Before I popped in the new Fernando Perdomo disc, I took a quick glance at the liner notes booklet, and one line jumped out at me: “Totally understand Taylor Swift now!” It made me chuckle, particularly as she is not someone I expected to see referred to by this musician. But her influence is spreading, and she is someone I’ve been hearing more of, without once seeking her out. Even jazz musicians are beginning to cover her songs. It might be time for me to actually listen to one of her albums. Well, maybe not quite yet. After all, I have this new Fernando Perdomo album to enjoy. Fernando Perdomo is a singer and songwriter and musician who, in addition to his solo career, has performed on the albums of many other artists. There are quite a few discs in my collection that feature his work, such as albums by James Houlahan, Chris Price, Emitt Rhodes, Cait Brennan and Arthur Brown, along with tributes like Abbey Road Reimagined: A Tribute To The Beatles and Ram On: The 50th Anniversary Tribute To Paul & Linda McCartney’s Ram. You might have also seen him on guitar in the documentary film Echo In The Canyon, playing with several artists. And while he often performs with other musicians, his new album, Self, is a true solo album. Fernando Perdomo wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, and produced the album. Has there ever been a more appropriately titled album?

The album opens with “Searching For Myself.” “Have you seen this man/Smiling in this picture/He’s been lost for days/Have you seen this man/He had his life together/But he’s lost his way/He looks a lot like me.” Those are some wonderful opening lines. I think most of us can relate, at least those of us who are prone to introspection and evaluation (I understand there are some people who never look within, and I find that frightening). Sometimes we lose track of ourselves, and sometimes we feel divided, separated from ourselves, or from the people we expected we’d be. This song explores those feelings. “Everybody gets a little lost sometimes,” he sings toward the end, repeating the line for emphasis. And that repetition has a comforting effect. This track features some really nice guitar work. It is followed by “Everything Leads To Now,” which has a pretty sound as it starts, particularly in the guitar work. “All the good and all the bad, it all leads to now/I’ve made a lot of mistakes, it all leads to now/I’ve had some victories too, it all leads to now.” Yes, Fernando Perdomo turns more philosophical in this song. No matter what has happened, good or ill, now is now, and whatever it was has brought you to this space. So now what? That’s the big question. What are we going to do? “Now is all that matters,” Fernando sings here. There is an interesting magical quality to this song, an almost dreamlike element, leading us to feel that even the present isn’t quite tangible.

I’m just a tad too old to have ever cared about or been interested in Transformers. Kids just a year or two younger than me played with those toys when they first came out, but my friends and I never did. And so we also never bothered with the movies (also, Michael Bay is a prick, and his movies suck), but still, I can appreciate the playful reference to one of the characters in the song title “Optimist Prime.” More than that, however, I appreciate the optimism, and there is an optimism felt in the music even before Fernando Perdomo’s vocals come in and he sings, “Everything is going my way.” Most of us are not often in touch with that feeling, but the music makes it feel like it is possible for everyone. And so who wouldn’t appreciate it? “I’m going to live my life my way.” I also love the steady drive of the drums. He then changes gears with “Absolute Silence,” a slower, mellower number in which he sings, “When did we lose touch/I miss you so much/Silence, absolute silence.” There is beauty to this song. By the way, it is in the note on this song that Fernando Perdomo offers that line about Taylor Swift. “If dreams are all we have/Sleeping is all I’ll do/Just to be with you/‘Cause if I see you tonight/Everything will be all right.”

There is something of a dance vibe to “Who I Really Am,” including in those touches on keys. It is a catchy number. “I’d rather that you love me for who I am instead of who you think I am.” And then halfway through, there is a change, the track moving into a pretty instrumental section that features some wonderful stuff on guitar. By the way, in the liner notes Fernando Perdomo gives himself various humorous names as his own backing band. That’s Jeremiah Maya Papaya on percussion and backing vocals. There’s a photo of the band on the back of the booklet. “Who I Really Am” is followed by “All Of Us Under The Same Moon,” an instrumental track featuring beautiful and captivating guitar work. There is a contemplative air to this one, and a positive outlook, and it ends up being one of my favorite tracks.

The album concludes with its title track, which is also its longest track at nearly twenty minutes (it’s half the album). There is a beauty to this one too, and something soothing in the vocal work from the start. “Be yourself.” As a Grateful Dead fan, I suppose I am somewhat predisposed to appreciate long songs, songs that take up the whole side of a record. But, seriously, this song is wonderful. It creates and explores a mood, and then before you can grow the least bit bored with that atmosphere, it changes, the music taking us into different territory, creating a different mood. And we know we are in good hands anyway, so we can relax and enjoy the ride. And the track might guide us on our own journeys. This track is the perfect bookend to the album’s first track, for here at one point Fernando sings, “I have found myself.” There is some beautiful and soothing guitar work in the second half. And then an interesting power begins to build toward the end.

CD Track List

1. Searching For Myself
2. Everything Leads To Now
3. Optimist Prime
4. Absolute Silence
5. Who I Really Am
6. All Of Us Under The Same Moon
7. Self

Self was released on June 14, 2024 on Cherry Red Records.