David Harvey

School teacher by day, and singer/songwriter by night, David Harvey is the one to look out for, because he can somehow make epic songs, be it musically or lyrically or both, without ever having to jump off the proverbial cliff and become a caricature of himself. For this release, he expands the palette with a full band (whose playing is beyond the term fresh) and at times when need be, adds horns and violins to emotionally take his prolific songs of existential bliss, questioning, plight, hope and mystery to places where a solo type artist from this country rarely travels. However, he does not ever lean on one side of an emotion, hence he makes a balanced point of view for the most part, both with the music and words. His voice is distinct, and can shift according to the content of each song — from the playful slight dementia ("Karma's Gonna Get Me"), to old school, to archaic to the pondering Hayden-esque. Overall, Harvey's music should appeal to those who like anything from Nick Cave, the Mekons to even Sloan. Although the sounds and production are never over-the-top, the feelings and execution of concepts within the album are, making the listener (as well as Harvey's music career potential) waiting for something to explode.