Radio Songs
is a title that suggests a collection of hooky pop tunes, the kind of songs that are part and parcel on the airwaves. That's not quite what
Blur
drummer
Dave Rowntree
delivers on his first solo album, nor is it quite his intention.
Rowntree
views the radio as a bit of a transportive device, where a new sound, texture, or world can be heard with the spin of a dial. It's a notion that's not too far removed from "This Is a Low," the dreamy, otherworldly closing number on
's
Parklife
, a song that somewhat echoes through
. Other ghosts of
can be detected here, too, such as the singsong chorus of "London Bridge" or the plaintive nocturnal new wave of "Machines Like Me." These aren't conscious evocations so much as a musician working with his own familiar vernacular; it's inevitable that some
would seep into
's own music. Where
plays to large audiences,
keeps things intimate. His arrangements are hushed, tempos generally gentle, his vocals are murmured -- qualities that remain whether a song is stripped to its essence or decorated with muted colors. This carefully constructed introspection does fulfill
's intention of
mimicking the shape-shifting nature of late-night listening, acting as an aural journey to an astral plane. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine