Balto – “Magnet/Mind”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 2

Pairs Well With… Drive-By Truckers, Warren Zevon, Al Stewart

The pandemic has been tough on musicians in all sorts of ways, financially, of course, and by depriving them of the live audiences on which many of them thrive. Balto is a good example of the latter. When we last saw Daniel Sheron and his band at SXSW 2019, they were rocking out about relationships, the road, and politics. His latest five pandemic era songs, in contrast, are substantially more subdued and melancholy. The best of the group is the single, “Magnet/Mind,” a patient alt-country meditation on life and love, sung with emotion and conviction. “The Wurlitzer Price” is a straightforward folk/country ballad with effective slide guitar and guitar strumming. “Cosmic Dancer” is an orchestral folk ballad with a 70’s vibe. Balto’s 2021 EP also covers a classic Warren Zevon song, “Desperados Under the Eaves.” In Zevon’s hands, although the lyrics tell a story of setbacks, the dynamic arrangement conveys the singer’s desire to nevertheless persist.  Balto’s version takes the lyrics more at face value, creating a powerful but bleaker rendition. Nevertheless, OEB anticipates that before a live audience again, Sheron will brighten up and bring both sides of Balto’s music to the stage. Moreover, despite the travails of the music industry, Sheron has plenty to be personally happy about. He posted on Facebook in July 2021 that he had just married the love of his life. So, we plan on showing up to one of his SXSW sets to hear the new songs and congratulate him and Lindsay. (David Zlotnick)