Let\u2019s get my personal bias out of the way up front: there is nothing world-beatingly original about Robert Hunter\u2019s new EP Outta My Mind<\/i>; it\u2019s just that I am a sucker for hooky, earnest, intelligent, somewhat-polished-but-not-overly-so singer-songwriter guitar rock (Matt Nathanson, Josh Kelley, early John Mayer\u2026 I\u2019ve done time with each). <\/p>\n
The number one point of comparison here, though, stems from the combination of the late-\u201990s radio-friendly alt-rock production (\u201cA little more echo on the vocals\u2026 keep everything else clean and well-defined and spacious\u2026 yeah, that\u2019s it\u201d) \u00a0with a voice that could pass for Rob Thomas\u2019 younger brother. Once you hear it, you can\u2019t un-hear it: this feels and sounds remarkably like alternate-universe early Matchbox 20.<\/p>\n
The opening title track is an urgent mid-tempo number about post-breakup regret and longing, wrapped around a solid chorus hook. \u201cAnd I find it strange, that separated \/ I love what I traded in,\u201d he says. Next up, \u201cWasted And Sober\u201d seems to rewind the tape to the genesis of the breakup; \u201cShe said \u2018Boy, you better straighten up\u2019\u201d while he counters: \u201cEverything changes \/ I don\u2019t want to change.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201c365\u201d pairs acoustic rhythm guitar with lilting electric leads and a driving rhythm section, its propulsiveness reminding a bit of John Hiatt\u2019s \u201cChild Of The Wild Blue Yonder\u201d as Hunter sings about \u201call those dreams that you\u2019ve been chasing.\u201d As it should be on a five-song EP, track four is a ballad (\u201cCarbon\u201d), a gentle acoustic story-song about a woman who goes out in search of herself and ends up turning back toward home. \u201cOn That Road\u201d close things out solidly, a fresh entry in the long line of driving-and-listening-to-music songs whose narrator is haunted by a memory. <\/p>\n
Does this brief set feel a bit formulaic at times? Sure. But the thing about formulas is, when they work like they\u2019re supposed to, the results are reliably tasty. Outta My Mind<\/i> showcases Robert Hunter\u2019s gift for combining smart lyrics with smart hooks, delivering earnest and reliably well-crafted tunes that hark back to the golden age of radio-friendly alt-rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[9901],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-44661","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-robert-hunter","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44661"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44661"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}