Saint of Second Chances

hat Nathan Graham projects on his debut album are stories of the human condition, somehow both achingly painful and exquisitely comforting. His guitars convey heartbreak, lyrics tell stories of regret, but his rich vocal delivery offers the remedy.

He puts it altogether on his debut record Saint of Second Chances, where his guitars reach from delicate and pristine to reverberatingly powerful. Tracks like “Good Honest Man” speak frankly about the urge to give up on love rather than risk loss, while “Fake Friends” offers a stomping, nostalgic rhythm behind some anxious self-reflection: “Saw you going down, down in flames / Well I guess I just didn’t know that I was doing the same.”

It’s a versatile album, just as meaningful when blasted through headphones in the isolation of your own room as it is in a crowded bar. And it’s a record Graham hopes can drive inclusivity in a genre not always known for its diversity.