my life//in medias res*

Album Review - Dave Barnes - Brother, Bring the Sun

March 20th, 2004 at 12:07 pm by sillyjoe (Music)

I’ve been anticipating this one for a while, and Dave Barnes and producer Ed Cash did not disappoint. The cd manages to depart from the sound of Dave’s first ep Three, Then Four, and yet still remain true to the style of his live show. The full band sound fits him well, and so does Ed Cash’s producing. The album starts with a band on “Crazyboutya,” a catchy song about lovin’ a lady. The instrumentation on the song is great, and fun to listen to. I was surprised to see Andrew Peterson’s buddy Ben Shive’s name on the musician list playing the wurlitzer…ahh, just another reason to love this disc. I love the background vocals on this song as well, the simple “Crazy bout you baby…” loop sounds just great. Ed Cash provides a little “human kazoo” before the bridge…for a great breakdown that just makes ya laugh. Up next is “Until You,” which is thusfar my favorite song on the disc, and another love song. Dave, much like his buddy Matt Wertz, is cranking out love songs like nobody’s business. And they’re working. Just go see one of them live and see all the girls swooning…and you’ll understand. Anyway, “Until You” is best summed up by the second half of its chorus. “Love was kept from me like a secret, and I swore that I was through until you.” I love the melody in this song. It’s just good stuff. Up next, “Grace’s Amazing Hands,” one of the two songs from Three, Then Four making an appearance on this disc. The changes made on this song are great. The background vocals Ed Cash and Dave provide are once again flawless, and Ed’s electric guitar plus Ben Shive’s wurlitzer give the song a great touch. Great new spin on an old school Dave song. There’s a section where Dave scats along with his guitar…fun stuff. Next, we have “Can’t Grow Tired of Your Love.” What a fun song. Nothing much to say about this song….other than that there’s a TRUMPET on it. That’s right. A trumpet. Up next…”The L.A. Song.” This version of the song is very different from the way Dave does it live. He’s singing in a different rhythm, and Ed’s playing a classical guitar on top of Dave’s guitar. I like this version…maybe ever better than the live version. But they’re both great. This is an awesome song, and the lyric to the chorus is just great. “He uses love like a bullet from a gun, and she’s careful like a surgeon. Everywhere he goes they all know to run, but she can’t help but love him.” Next we have “Prayers of the Saints,” a song about the power of Christian prayer. This song has a bit of a Latin feel to it, with some great percussion. There’s a vocal effect where Dave’s voice is a little more condensed….gives the song a great feel. The next song, “Your Love Will Never Change,” a song of musings about the love of God, lends to the original acoustic sound of Dave’s first project. It’s just Dave on vocals and his Taylor acoustic. No frills, just good stuff. From acoustic bliss to jam-out fun, “What Am I Gonna Do?” is one of the funnest songs to sing along with in your car. It’s a song about professing love. Once again….amazing background vox by Barnes and Cash. Ed does a fantastic job layering the different guitars…I’m having trouble counting how many are playing at once on some parts of this record. There’s a fun instrumental breakdown before the bridge. This song is great live, too. “Nothing Fancy” is the second and final song on this album that was originally on Dave’s EP…the song has a faster feel to it than the original version, with some good drum tracks laid down by Dan Needham. Once again, Ben Shive on the wurlitzer….it’s just priceless. “The Inbetween” is a song about what the off and on and the hot and cold that is love. Not much to say…it’s still good stuff. Cash’s guitar gives it a blues feel, and Dave’s soulful vocal just adds to that feel. The last song and shortest song on the album is oh-so-oh-so different from the rest, but oh-so-oh-so great. The instrumentation? Simply Ben Shive on piano and Anthony Lamarchia on cello, with Dave singing and Ed Cash providing background vocals. The song? “On A Night Like This,” a song which Dave confesses in concert he wrote after seeing Serendipity. Favorite quote from that song explanation? “I just pause the DVD on a part where Kate Beckinsdale looks really pretty, and say, ‘Kate, this one’s for you’.”

Well, there you have it. Seriously, go buy Brother, Bring the Sun at awarestore.com. Do it for yourself. You’ll thank me later. If you still aren’t positive, you can go to davebarnesrocks.com and listen to three streaming songs from the album. Check it out, yo.

My grade: 5 stars

postscript–I wish I could write love songs like some of these…shew.