JOHN WESLEY HARDING
Awake
Zero Hour, $15.98
John
Wesley Harding breaks new ground on "Awake," his sixth release for
the independent label Zero Hour. In record stores Tuesday, the CD not only
displays Harding's exceptional talent as a songwriter (inedible melodies,
literate lyrics and droll wit) but also showcases his faculty for designing
intriguing soundscapes.
As
with past efforts, Harding sings with a strong storytelling sensibility here,
but he also assumes the role of sonic architect, building the tunes with layers
of drum loops, mellotron samples, atmospheric keyboard parts and even sampled
harmonica riffs played through a synthesizer.
Harding's
tinkering serves the songs well. Case in point: The swishing hiss of cigarette
lighters and matches, sampled and looped throughout the sprightly
"Burn," fan the flames of Harding's philosophical forecast:
"Baby, we're all gonna bum/ So light up and wait your turn."
While
the sonic treats make for great headphone listening (especially on the solemn
" Something to Write" and the breezy "You're Looking at Me
"), Harding's songs carry the day.
He's
packed this collection with engaging tunes, including the stormy "Your Ghost,"
the hip-hop inflected "It's All My Fault," the melancholic waltz
"Poor Heart" and a couple of full-fledged rockers, the Beatlesesque
hummer "Song I Wrote" and the defiant "I'm Staying Here."
Then
there's Harding's tour de force, "Miss Fortune," an odd but
compelling story about an abandoned baby boy found in a ditch and raised as a
girl by the richest man in the world. It's a startling song on a top-notch pop
album.
-Dan
Ouellette