Even though Michael himself says that it’s too early for a compilation, I say it’s never too early for any of his albums, especially when you consider the fact that it’s actually his debut in his native Australia, so it’s more kinda late after already two releases in the States.
There’s nothing revolutionary about these songs but he’s just so damn good at combining the best fragments of his (and ours!) record collections that it makes the “where-have-I-already-heard-this? ” question hang in the air all the time. Heavenly vocal harmonies and crystal clean production are the main ingredients of this collection that opens with three glorious melody-explosions.
Kailee-Ann is a Costello-meets-The Beach Boys-with-a-Fanclub-middle-eight tune, which is followed by Love Is Like combining a folky-pop arrangement with a nice Kyle Vincent-ertainment stuck in the middle eight and then, there’s Thinking About You, Carpenter’s ultimate audio statement, giving you the best possible reason to become a pop junkie.
Of course, besides such a grandiose opening, your ears won’t be left to rest cuz soon they’ll be full of “big stars” of Love So Strong, rawking “hindu times” of Changes, pumping Hofner “maccaronies” and “byrds” flying all over She Dreams and there’s also a ray of electric light turned on by the Lynnear production of Believes Again.
Besides the tracks from the two regular albums Up Close is enrichened with a mixture of seven unreleased/cover/remixed tracks which makes it a must no matter if you’re already familiar or not with the opus of Michael Carpenter.
[Released by Laughing Outlaw 2002]
Be the first to comment