7/10

There's something fitting about Andy Koh naming his debut album 'Taking the Long Way'. After nearly four decades of writing songs, the Dallas-based singer-songwriter is finally gathering those different chapters into one record, capturing that journey with warmth and momentum throughout.

He first began writing during his undergraduate years at Harvard in the late 80s, and his first full-length brings together songs from across that entire span. Some were written years ago and quietly carried forward. Others were revised, completed or written more recently, giving the album the feel of a life’s worth of ideas finally finding the right moment to come together.

The record is rooted in themes of time, uncertainty, perseverance and the distance between where you expect life to take you and where it actually goes. The title-track captures that philosophy particularly well. Written towards the end of the album process, ‘Taking the Long Way’ became the song that helped bring the wider record into focus, turning the idea of delay and deviation into something more reflective and ultimately hopeful.

Musically, the album is built around straightforward, song-led arrangements. He worked with a small group of experienced session players, including bassist Sean Hurley and drummer Jake Reed, while Grammy-winning engineers Darrell Thorp and Michael Romanowski handled the mixing and mastering.

But what makes this new full-length especially compelling is the way its long gestation becomes part of its emotional character. These songs reflect different stages of a life, brought together with enough distance to understand how they connect.

Warm, reflective and quietly assured, 'Taking the Long Way' finds Andy Koh finally giving decades of songwriting a permanent home, and proving that sometimes the longer route is the one that gives the journey its meaning.