Justin Nozuka
You I Wind Land and Sea
Glass Note
April 13

By Matt Kiernan

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter Justin Nozuka returns after three years to release his second album, You I Wind Land and Sea, an album filled with heartfelt songs about inner struggles and women.

As a musician who for the most part performs with just his voice and acoustic guitar, along with backing performers, Nozuka has made an impact in the indie world with his last album Holly climbing the Billboard Independent Albums chart.

The silently opened first track “Gray” features the soulful singing of Nozuka, bongos and guitar notes. After a quiet beginning, the song opens up into powerful acoustic guitar chords with Nozuka singing, “I don’t want to lose it.”

“Love” shows the nice transitions that Nozuka features in his songs, going beyond the beginning of the song’s acoustic guitar and singing combination, to lead into backup vocals, drums and eventually electric guitar. Nozuka’s ability to speak from the heart is heard in his lyrics, “I know I’m in love/ I feel like my heart’s exploding.”

“My Heart is Yours” carries a resemblance to that of a John Mayer tune, sticking to the guitar and vocals with a little bit of drums to express the feeling a person gets when they’ve realized they’ve met the right person. The ending message leaves a person elated when he sings, “Everything is gonna be all right.”

It’s impressive to think that such a young musician could write such adult songs and have a seemingly well understanding of the intricacies of love. Considering his first album was released when he was 18, Nozuka seems to have a greater maturity than many people his age.

Justin Nozuka’s a force to be reckoned with when it comes to acoustic guitar singer-songwriters, proving he can equal his predecessors and current musicians when writing songs about his experiences with love.