FILE UNDER: A concoction of Coldplay and Counting Crows with a little G. Love thrown in.
CORPORATE LINE: In a music world longing for a new voice, Mat Kearney represents the singer-songwriter for the 21st century music lover. While keeping an acoustic base, Kearney incorporates a wide range of influences that color his songs with unique textures. At the same time, Kearney captures the lyrics that stir the deepest universal emotions.
On his forthcoming Aware/Columbia album, this Oregon-raised artist delivers style without sacrificing substance. The album features hip-hop beats, pop choruses, acoustic folk and spoken verses all moving effortlessly together.
THE GOOD:
Nothing groundbreaking or original.
THE AVERAGE:
“Undeniable” – Sounds like a lesser version of G. Love. At least G. Love had style that was all his own. Kearney isn’t a M.C. Hip-hop and folk are like putting cabbage in a bowl of cheerios and pouring orange juice over it.
“Undeniable” – It might be a good song if Kearney didn’t sound like a child of Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows during the verses and Chris Martin during the chorus.
“Crashing Down” – Another Coldplay attempt right down to the mellow verse and the building chorus.
“Wait” – It’s pretty.
THE BAD:
“Girl America” – It might have interesting lyrics, but how could anyone sit and deal with the weak rhyming in order to hear them? This is impossible. Kearney comes off as a poser.
FRANKLY: It’s hard to deal with Mat Kearney trying to be Coldplay and G. Love. There isn’t a unique song on the entire album. If you are going to steal from other artists at least write great songs doing it—when Aqualung released “Brighter Than Sunshine” his hijacking of Coldplay was okay because that song was as good as any Coldplay song. That’s the difference between rhyming and stealing. Apparently Nothing Left To Lose means that he’s going to steal and has nothing to lose. It got him a record deal—how that happened is beyond me.
+ Rae Gun
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