Canadian Liam Macdonald has put out his own set of songs with the help of New York's Tim Carbone as producer and musical contributor. The result is a folk/world/jazz/pop pourri that addresses no fashions and rides no bandwagons.
"Eagle and Snake" has a hint of THE COLOUR BLIND JAMES EXPERIENCE to get us started. "Burning Blue" could be SACHA DISTEL meets JOHN DENVER. "nemOmen" is a folk/goth experiment that throws in some weird band noises and sticks with a rather grand vocal delivery. "Man Woman Child" goes out to WOMAD, but comes back with something mannered and considerate that finally fixes my impression of the whole album. Even when "Should Have Known" launches itself smack dab into Roy Orbison pop hit territory, I'm not convinced that Macdonald wants to do much more than prove that he can make a nice CD.
Musicianship is not at issue. This is an aural treat by any standards. Sixteen contributors all add their best licks and provide plenty of texture and colour. The mood is generally laid back and thoughtful. It slips down very easy.
My problem is Macdonald's motivation. His very sweet tenor voice sometimes goes a little intense or drops into the semi-spoken delivery that evoked COLOUR BLIND JAMES. His lyrics do set off on adult journeys for big themes. But I can’t get beyond his politely implicit invitation to like his stuff, please. Without heroic tunes, compulsive beats or starling new sounds I am forced back on the personality and the individual voice. And frankly, in Macdonald's case it is a bit dull. It's nice. It uses popular music styles for their comforting rather than their subversive or explosive properties. By the end of the CD I'm thinking about Rice and Webber rather than Goffin and King. His picture starts to remind me of Frederick from 60s folk/pop duo Nina and Frederick. This is not a comfortable experience.
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Final song "No Doubt About It" is a winsome tune with the numbing chorus lines: "There can be no doubt about it, / You just can’t live without it's / called love". After an interesting start, the album finishes in rather soft pop bathos.
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