American folk musician Joshua Radin’s sophomore effort Simple Times could easily be mistaken for a schoolboys mix-tape. The album is pregnant with songs about insecurity, unrequited love and boy-meets-girl romances. This would be fine, if he weren’t in his mid-thirties.
Vulnerable tracks I’d Rather Be With You, Friend Like You and Brand New Day are immediately affiliated with clichéd love-story films, literally. Radin’s songs have played a role in movies The Nanny Diaries, Catch and Release and The Last Kiss. Many subtle but catchy riffs are overlapped with poetic lyrics; the songs are short and leave me wanting.
Free Of Me almost has me bent down to eat my words, almost. Joshua Radin has a seraphic voice, much like that of Jack Johnson or Pete Murray. He’s actually quite erudite for a self-taught musician. His collaborations with Ingrid Michaelson and Patty Griffin in Sky and You Got Growin’ Up To Do reveal a stronger more passionate folk voice.
Don’t get me wrong; I love a vulnerable singer as much as the next single Sydneysider. But there is a fine line between the admirably exposed and the pitiable damaged. Then again America’s Rolling Stone Magazine called Radin ‘this generations Bob Dylan,’ so what do I know?!
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