KEVIN HEARN – CLOUD MAINTENANCE
- Author:
- Cameron Barnett
- Posted:
- Monday, 30 January 2012
Kevin Hearn is probably best known as the keyboardist for Canadian rockers Barenaked Ladies. He leads a rich musical life away from the band, however, as evidenced on this fifth solo effort. As done on his previous albums, Hearn has used his dynamic talent on the keys to weave a tapestry of lilting piano figures and electronic atmospherics. The general avoidance of guitars has certainly worked in his favour, allowing a pleasantly distinctive musical identity to form. The simple melody of opening number Northland Train is an instant attention-grabber, while She Waved marries a rapid piano figure with equally impressive percussive clicks and flourishes. Tell Me Tell Me could easily find a place on Radiohead’s OK Computer – gentle, yet too sonically interesting to become boring. The weaker moments on the album, perhaps unsurprisingly, are the more upbeat ones. Don’t Shuffle Me Back recalls the nauseating piano-led pop of Paul McCartney (or worse, Ringo Starr). Likewise, The House of Invention is so delightfully twee that it could be used to soundtrack episodes of Playschool. Hearn should stick to his impressive keyboard excursions rather than cringe-worthy sing-a-longs next time around. Thankfully, there is more of the former than the latter on Cloud Maintenance.
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Story posted on Monday, 30 January 2012, filed under CD Reviews. Follow responses via the RSS feed.
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