The Line of Best Fit’s infatuation with singer songwriters continues with this, rather sprawling release, from American Andrew Collberg. I came across Collberg whilst reading the latest issue of Harp magazine that infrequently appears in my local Borders. The way his sound was described intrigued me enough to pop along to the, now mainstay of new music, Myspace and listen to some tunes. A quick exchange of emails with the good man himself and a copy of the album winged its way across the Atlantic to sunny Cambridge for me to listen to.

What immediately struck me about this debut was it’s, obvious, influences. They’re mainly British, his voice reminiscent of the late John Lennon and the musical arrangements similar to the groups of the 60’s in The Beatles and The Kinks. Infused with this though is some history of Americana. There’s twists of early (and now more recent) Wilco and The Jayhawks. But this isn’t an alt-country or Americana album, this is most definitely a pop/rock album. The dirty guitars of Eyes of Mine Are Your Son rock along like something from a Ryan Adams album, but his hushed and whispered vocals sound more sinister than anything Adams could muster. The opening Roll On In Bed sounds like the song Julien Lennon always wished he could have written with it’s gentle acoustic guitars and lo-fi production whilst Dream Tonight is reminiscent of Crowded House and Neil Finn’s solo output with it’s tremelo guitar and upbeat pop feel. Most of the songs follow this pattern, it’s not quite out and out AOR as the production isn’t clean enough for that, which is this records greatest asset. It feels as though it was produced forty years ago in Abbey Road. If there is one problem with this record though, it’s just a little too long. There’s sixteen songs on here and, towards the end, your attention does start to wain. But it’s worth making it through to the last track, the excellent The Water Fell with it’s acoustic guitars entwined with some nicely piercing electric ones that hints at some deep melancholy trapped at its heart – a hidden gem tucked away at the end.

For a debut record this is great stuff. The fact is that Collberg is under no illusions, he’s not aiming to be something that he’s not. This record is steeped in the past and is all the better for it, the Beatles-esque production and guitars just add up to an impressive record and one that suits the sunshine soaked days we’re currently enjoying. Let’s just hope Collberg has plenty more of these pop tunes up his sleeve.
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Links
Andrew Collberg [myspace] [buy the album]