| These songs are among the best melodic numbers you will hear this year. Hands-down, Two Part Confessional is part and parcel of the best of pop's melodic branch. |
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Jeff Larson
Two Part Confessional
New Surf North (2005)
Back in 1998, Jeffrey Foskett sent me a copy of Jeff Larson's first album, Watercolor Sky, suggesting that it might be right up my alley. Foskett was right, and ever since, I've been a big fan. The two Jeffs, the firmament upon which the New Surf label is built, are a perfect pair, each espousing Southern California values within their music, and infusing their lyrics with what makes the Southern California lifestyle so attractive.
Mind you, this isn't easy to do, or, at least, it isn't easy to do well. Capturing a particular sound, especially one that has been mined so often over the years, is like walking barefoot on the beach at high noon; Foskett covers the Beach Boys aesthetic, Larson covers the America/Eagles sound, and both make their sounds their own.
On Two Part Confessional, Larson adjusts his usual approach in a somewhat subtle way, delivering a sextet of songs adorned with what he calls a "Fall/Winter feel." This record delivers a tremendously affecting payoff, and signals a new beginning of sorts for one of pop's most talented singer/songwriters.
As usual, Larson's melodies are straight-ahead and affecting. There aren't many singers who can match the depth of his emotional delivery; he is invested in every syllable of his lyrics and his vocals are the core of every song, the collective rock upon which each is built. Whether the song is about escaping one's reality to reinvigorate the soul (the powerful "Maybe Cascade Idaho," featuring background vocals from Foskett) or about hope and mercy (the relentlessly-melodic "A Better Day," co-written and sung with America's Gerry Beckley), you feel as though Larson is singing only to you, reaching your deepest emotions with the hand of assured peace.
Throughout these songs, the aural landscape is shifted with room to breathe, as in the closing number, "Only Green," in which the guitars seems to hug the soundfield, and in the gorgeous ballad, "The Way Outside," where Larson's pure vocal resonates with depth of feeling not often enough found in pop.
The crunchy sound of "Maybe Cascade Idaho" is high-fidelity through a single soundfield, compressed into the center soundstage as the song's story unfolds. It's fairly breathtaking. And the spareness of the opener, "Looking at December," puts the song front and center, where it belongs; close your eyes and imagine Larson on a stool, sitting right in front of you, singing to you, holding notes just so long in the way that his voice floats up and down in the air.
Everything you need to know about these six masterworks is contained in the grooves; the simple cardboard foldout digipak gives basic songwriting and playing credits and not much else. But on the cover there is a drawing of an eye, pretty wide open, above a skeleton key, suggesting that new doors are being opened, that this isn't the last time Larson will play with his sound and focus; indeed, there will be another EP released prior to the artist's next full-length album, slated for next spring.
These songs are among the best melodic numbers you will hear this year, and you will be doing yourself a disservice if you do not immediately add this disc to your collection.
Alan Haber
October 23, 2005
Go to: New Surf