The second album by this Brooklyn singer songwriter is colourfully described on the press release as "a wild hayride down the potholed terrain of present day Americana".
This may be so, but I seriously question whether we really need another celebration of the "brand new sound" of Rock'n'Roll (Rok & Role Model) and have grave reservations about the tastefulness of an upbeat Cajun number about the flooding of New Orleans (Theme Park new Orleans).
With guitar, piano, accordion, sax, cello, fiddle and harmonica, Ellsworth and his band make a homely , MOR sound and the strong opening track (Actor In A Play) promises more. This song is steeped in nostalgia ("Yesterday is just a fading photograph") but keeps things personal rather getting on a soap box about the state of the planet.
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In contrast, the song From My World catalogues contemporary woes, including homelessness, drug abuse, street crime, riots and wars. Witnessing "schools with armed guards" and "bimbos on talk shows" fuels the singer's need to escape the madness, a theme found also on the title track where he dreams of running to the quiet of the country where he can "drink red wine in the rain" and relish the "cold white waterfalls".
Essentially , the album is the sound of a singer careering through middle age finding the world increasing terrifying and incomprehensible. It's easy going, well meaning but short on thrills.
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