After firmly planting his feet on either side of John Mayer and Jason Mraz in the realm of adult contemporary music, Gavin DeGraw tries to break away from the pack, giving up the catchy choruses and simple arrangements that flood soft rock radio stations and grocery store Muzak players and starting right back at square one. The aptly named Free consists primarily of DeGraw on his guitar or piano, belting out the beautiful, wandering melodies that made him a gifted singer-songwriter in the first place. As a result, Free sticks out not only as the most interesting and complex Gavin DeGraw album to date, but as a soulful, passionate bluesy-rock album unmatched by any of DeGraw’s peers.
“Indian Summer” opens the album with a tribal beat and old-west-era guitar strumming while DeGraw waxes lyrical on life out on the streets, channeling both Eric Clapton and Jack Kerouac in the process. This sets the mood for the rest of the bare-bones record. DeGraw sacrifices the formulaic structure of his previous records for more liberating song structures, moodier lyrics and themes, and an almost campfire singalong quality to his music. “Mountains to Move” has an almost gospel air about it, with DeGraw allowing an almost Dylan-esque preachiness to come through in his mumbling poetry and folk-driven melody. On the most radio-centric track “Lover Be Strong”, DeGraw allows a full band to come in without ruining the intimate atmosphere he’s developed. In the music of Free Gavin DeGraw proves himself to be a talented songwriter, and as a overall performer he catapults himself above and beyond the mass of dime a dozen shmucks with a guitar and a song in their heart.
Of course, the downside to an album that bucks the radio trends means that these tracks are harder to get into, and need help working their way into the memory banks of listeners. This isn’t a huge problem, since Free is easy on the ears, but asking for repeated listens while being bombarded with the musical atrocities of John Mayer and James Blunt might be a tough sell. Also, at a paltry 38 minutes, Gavin DeGraw’s best work is also his shortest, leaving people hoping for more where this came from. These are relatively small complaints given that DeGraw has taken a bold step forward in his music. Here’s hoping his peers are taking notes.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Gavin DeGraw – Lover Be Strong [iTunes] (YSI)
==TJ==
Filed under: reviews | Tagged: Gavin DeGraw, reviews
I always wondered what music style he played. Ive been brought up listening to him and mayer…So in turn my own music has followed a similar path. I really love The Free album. Its great to see him branching out and away from all the sound into a quieter music. Beautiful.
John mayer has seemed to take a step in the same direction with his new album due out November…where he is going for a more crooning feel. Im quite excited about that aswell. The best music is always the music which is ‘emptiest’ I think.