everett young - the ground
self financed, self produced, self written - self everything.
worried ? well you shouldn't be.
this is a very impressive set of classic radio pop songs.
first though the most amazing aspect is the sheer quality of the package, the whole things has the look and feel of a major label production, even the sleeve notes !
as for the music?
very listenable, well produced, pop music.
comparisons with the dreaded robbie williams has been mentioned by several others, as well as aspects of powerpop gurus jason falkner/ben folds five.
these are indeed reasonable as until recently most of robbie w's tracks were written by guy chambers - a man well versed in classic 3 minute pop songs with strong hooks, memorable melodies, something everett has either a natural ability to create, or, he has studied the art to a high degree and could easily pick up the tab for robbies next lp and fill in the newly advertised missing gap ..
the songs are sonically balanced with real instruments of strumming guitars, basslines, piano etc with most tracks having subtle orchestrations added for more depth.
there are some nice concessions to modern studio sheen - but this never detracts from the song. experiments are not everetts bag of tricks instead its obvious that the song/melody/hooks are all, and there are many across these 11 tracks.
highlights include
the uptempo 'rags to riches',
the acoustic 'if we moved to new york' - a personal highlight - with gorgeous vibe and lovingly styled acoustic bass line.
and best of all - the 80's new wave pop style rip off of 'every time i look at you' which is great fun - and deserves massive exposure.
there are just so many songs on this that are crying out for a windswept, moody, slo-mo video - they have that kind of feel.
'the ground' should be heard and played by all those who crave for good old fashioned pop music - as opposed to the music factory fodder that gets created/promoted/playlist saturated these days, something which everett himself likes to have a few digs at in a couple of the lyrics.
this disc has been a very pleasant experience with some tracks really embedded within the psyche after 3 plays.
search this out.