Safe in Sound

Safe in Sound is the fifth album in a long-established series of self-releases by the solo acoustic guitarist Daryl Shawn, who hails from Amish farm country in rural Pennsylvania. The ten tracks are entirely instrumental – but there's enough imagination and sufficient invention to hold the attention as Shawn seamlessly fuses classical, flamenco, jazz, folk and world music influences into a singular style.

He prides himself on using nylon strings with no altered tunings or effects, so the sound is as organic as it gets. However, he's not averse to using the body of his guitar for percussive effect à la Rodrigo y Gabriela, a technique that works particularly well on the Bollywood tribute ‘The Monsoon Replied’, while the Japanese koto sound on ‘Tug of the Planet’ is achieved by bouncing chopsticks on his guitar strings. ‘A Walk in the Park’ evokes the kora-like style of the South African guitarist Derek Gripper and the rhythmic ‘A Common Place’ is driven by a lovely Middle Eastern melody. Shawn prefers understatement to showboating and authentic technique to flashy pyrotechnics – and in an age of ostentation, it's an approach that is enormously refreshing.