I love music that sets open spaces on fire. David Bowie would do that. He would take something completely original and make it even more original, and then make it just fucking weird, and then would set it on fire. I think what I mean by that is he would take a concept that was avant-garde, and way on the fringes, and make it mainstream….. essentially setting it ablaze. While many would think that an abomination, Bowie was so fucking cool, that avant-garde would gravitate toward him, and not the other way around. Springsteen was like that too, and The Talking Heads, and REM, and Patti Smith, and Sonic Youth, and Aphex Twin, and host of other iconic artists that set everything around them ablaze.
The Grand Undoing is the brainchild of Seth Goodman a singer / songwriter hailing from Boston, Mass. Goodman offers a little of that fire that make all those other artists so special. His sound is his, and his alone, and it is refreshing. His confident baritone comes across a little comical at first, but as it is posed on his new record, Sparks Rain Down From the Lights of Love, The listener will be sold on his brand of over-the-top, hook-laden glam-pop rock.
Songs like “Key Biscayne” offer a jazzy lead-in to a legit sing along chorus complete with call and response drum and organ filled stop. “Living in Amber” is a relaxing night at the beach watching the waves lap the sand with a loved one. “Lady in Gray” brings a soft touch piano and beautiful string arrangement with Goodman’s voice adding a second layer instrument with a gaudy but subtle punch. Title track “Songs Rain Down From the Lights of Love” begins with a string arrangement reminiscent of Annie Lennox in “Walkin’ on Broken Glass” but opens up to a high-energy blast as fun as it is to say the name of the song.
There is a definite 70’s-era vibe on the album that is not unwelcome. If nothing else it’s not boring and if you’re looking for something other than the everyday slosh that fills the radio waves, give it a listen.
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