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Haughty Melodic
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Haughty Melodic
Current price: $21.99
Barnes and Noble
Haughty Melodic
Current price: $21.99
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It's been five years since the demise of
, and up to this point,
's solo releases have been solo in the truest sense of the word: he is literally the only musician present.
is
's first solo release to feature a band, making comparisons to his old band inevitable, but this really is a different beast. He's still an excellent wordsmith, and still favors acoustic bass and taut drums. His delivery is pretty much the same, but with a bit more emphasis on singing and melody. The big differences are that guitars are much more prominent than on any
releases, the lyrics have a more personal perspective, and the additional sounds of the album come from warmer sources like piano, Fender Rhodes and horns rather than a sampler. Several of the songs originally appeared on the live
album, but those versions were quite sparse: just voice and acoustic guitar. Here, they get the full rock treatment. The sound can still be fairly thick, like on "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well" and "I Hear the Bells," but the acoustic guitar, piano and pedal steel of "White Lexus" are a far cry from anything
released. There are still some strange sonics, like at the end of "Busting Up a Starbucks," but the overall sound is very organic with many acoustic elements.
's solo work shows an interesting development. Even with his rather drastic switch from hip-hop hipster beatnik to acoustic solo troubadour,
retained a large part of his original fan base. Those folks will surely be pleased with
, but even the people who didn't take to
's solo career immediately owe it to themselves to check this one out. ~ Sean Westergaard