Intveld wrote or co-wrote most of the material on Somewhere; he also co-produced (with Michael Turner) and, of course, played a range of instruments (guitars, upright and electric bass, drums, piano, organ and mandolin). He's given us an album to get lost in, with songs that demand attention, refusing to blend into the atmosphere. It's near impossible to listen to Intveld's music and not form an emotional connection.
It's on the ballads in particular that he really gets to you, in a way that might embarrass the usually unsentimental. The sparse and haunting "Sinner's Prayer" could make an atheist ask for God's grace, and even cynics and those who loathe love songs will cry out for every lover they've ever lost after hearing "Love Calls," "What About You" or "If I Should Lose You." On this last one, when Intveld's silky voice confesses, "If I should lose you, where would I be?/All my tomorrows would mean nothing to me/Like falling from heaven on a broken wing/Because if I would lose you/I would lose everything," tears are bound to flow; no doubt thousands of women would pledge anything to be the "you" referred to in the song.
Admittedly, it sounds like pure hokum -- and in less able hands, it absolutely would be. But there's something to Intveld's earnestness that's undeniable; add to that his impeccable phrasing, the evocative and skilled playing by him and his band and the full, clear production, and the music never veers over the edge into bombast.
Intveld's one of the few old-school, swoonworthy idols we have left. It certainly helps that he's quite a handsome fellow, but that's not the root of his appeal; he could look like he was run over by a truck and still have that soul-stirring power. It's in the voice and in every note.
