Album photos by Steve Pyke
In a world where genre lines blur more than ever, The Game of They doesn’t just walk the tightrope between styles—it frankly dances across it with confidence and a swagger over its step. Across six tracks, Naylor Stone’s The Game of They serves as both an introduction and an exploration of his diverse musical influences as he crafts a sonic journey that meanders through country twang, folk storytelling, alt-rock grit, bluesy swagger, and indie rock’s introspective soul.
The Game of They is, to put it simply, a sonic buffet. Over the course of six tracks, Naylor Stone weaves through country, folk, alt-rock, blues, and indie rock, as if someone handed them a Make Your Own Genre kit and they said “Yes.” The result is a project that somehow manages to be eclectic without feeling like a random playlist someone threw together at 3 AM. Whether you come for the bluesy grit, the rock swagger, or the moments of jazzy weirdness, one thing’s for sure: Naylor Stone isn’t here to blend in—he’s here to be heard.
What really makes this album stand out, though, is Stone’s voice. It’s raw, unpredictable, and completely his own, like he wandered into the studio after a lifetime of doing actual hard work and decided to make an album just to show the rest of us how it’s done. His melodies don’t just go from A to B—they zigzag, take a detour, and maybe stop at a gas station to grab a snack. There’s a punkish, Gen X defiance to it all, the kind that says, “I’ve got a family and responsibilities, but I can still shred, thanks.”
Personal highlights include Love Me, Little Lazy as a nod to classic Americana but executed with modern sensibilities, with maybe even the faint whiff of whiskey in the atmosphere of the waltz-y rhythm. Another highlight, In The Meantime, comes in like a genre-bending mad scientist, fusing indie atmosphere with blues-rock grit in a way that shouldn’t work but absolutely does. Lastly, the title track runs itself through a classic Western groove and it feels so right to imagine yourself as the most rootin’-tootin’ sheriff this town darn did seen. And yes, that sentence is an editor’s pain point, but this track makes it sound so right due to sheer bravado.
As a first solo effort, The Game of They feels like a musician testing the waters, but there’s an undeniable confidence in its execution. It’s a project that doesn’t just borrow from multiple genres—it weaves them together into something distinctively Naylor Stone. Whether you’re drawn in by the bluesy grit, the rock edge, or the jazz-inflected moments, one thing is clear: Naylor Stone is an artist with something to say, and he’s undoubtedly saying it his way.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.
