I discovered that Jonatha Brooke had a new album several months ago, but for whatever reason, I wasn't in a huge hurry to buy it. Man, do I wish I'd bought it sooner. The Works is the finest of Jonatha's many fine albums, and it's the best record I've heard that came out in 2008.
All but two of the songs—and the instrumental snippet called "Coney Island Intro" that leads into the closing number, "King of My Love"—were written by Jonatha using lyrics left behind by folk legend Woody Guthrie. Many of the songs are propelled by organs and pianos rather than guitars, and I like that rich, keyboard-driven sound.
Jonatha manages to attach a few different musical styles to Guthrie's lyrics. "My Battle," for instance, is countrified, while "My Flowers Grow Green" has a jazzy, torchy feel to it.
My favorite song from The Works is "There's More True Lovers Than One." Listening to it makes me happier than eating chocolate, and, believe me, that's a compliment I don't hand out lightly.* "TMTLTO" is a duet with Eric Bazilian, a talented musician whom I still associate mostly with the Philadelphia-based '80s rock group The Hooters even though he's also known for having written Joan Osborne's ubiquitous hit from 1995, "One of Us."
The booklet that came with the CD** includes some of Woody's notes on his lyrics. He says he wrote "TMTLTO" the day after he first saw the ocean, something he'd been yearning to do since his childhood in Oklahoma. The lyrics that accompany the jaunty tune are sad but hopeful. The second verse goes: "I looked across that sea to see them whitecap breakers rise / True love comes in like an ocean tide and like the wind it flies / Upon these moonlit sands how many a vow was sworn? / How many a heart was tost and broke while love went rolling on?"
"Sweetest Angel"—a duet with Glen Phillips, formerly of Toad the Wet Sprocket—lives up to its name; it's an incredibly sweet song. Here's its chorus: "All this world is made of love. / You are fresh from heaven above. / You're the sweetest angel in this world. / (repeats twice) / You're the sweetest angel."
"All You Gotta Do Is Touch Me," Jonatha's duet with Keb' Mo', is also sweet—and loads of fun and very very sexy too. Its bridge provides the album's title: "I fully aim to get my soul known again / As the maniac, the saint, the sinner, the drinker, the thinker, the queer / I am the WORKS, the whole WORKS / And it's not 'till you have called me all of those things / That I feel satisfied, I feel satisfied."
"Taste of Danger" is one of the two all-Jonatha numbers and another standout. It's slightly edgy and confessional and very rockin', and I just love it. (The other song for which Jonatha wrote the lyrics, "Little Bird," isn't a bad song, but it's not particularly noteworthy to me and hasn't yet become a favorite.)
***
Billy Bragg and Wilco were the first musicians given access to Guthrie's lyrical archives by his daughter Nora. The resulting songs were released on two critically acclaimed albums named after the street in Coney Island on which Guthrie once lived. My favorite songs from the two discs are "Walt Whitman's Niece" and "California Stars" (from Mermaid Avenue) and "Airline to Heaven," "Hot Rod Hotel," Secret of the Sea," and "Aginst th' Law" (from Mermaid Avenue Vol. II).
***
I was a pretty big fan of Toad the Wet Sprocket back in the band's heyday, though I never saw them in concert. "Come Down," from 1997's Coil album, is probably my No. 1 TTWS song. I also like "Little Buddha" from that album a lot. Like many of the band's songs, it's lyrically dark, but I can't resist the stirring strings and thrilling conclusion.
A TTWS collection should also contain "Walk on the Ocean," "Is It for Me," "Nightingale Song," "Hold Her Down," "In My Ear," and "All I Want" from 1991's Fear; "Something's Always Wrong," "Stupid," "Crowing," "Windmills," and "Nanci" from 1994's Dulcinea; and "Brother," "Good Intentions," and "Hope" from the 1995 compilation album In Light Syrup. (I don't own the band's first two albums, Bread & Circus and Pale, nor its post-breakup compilation album P.S.)
***
And finally, here are two songs I would file under Guilty Pleasures on my iPod if I were to create such a playlist:
Benjamin Howes, who was the standby for the roles of both Hunter and Jeff in [title of show], posted the video for Bananarama's "I Heard a Rumour" on the [tos] blog last month. Dammit, I love that song. It's supersimple synth pop (give me an afternoon to practice, and even I could probably play it on a keyboard), but it's so catchy and bouncy that it burrows into your brain and won't let go.
I bought the video for '90s British boy band Take That's "Back for Good" last week. It's a terrific pop song, and Gary Barlow was some kind of good lookin', with his perfect hair, touch of fuzz on the jaw, and eminently kissable lips. Actually, he's even better looking now.
*I still love you, chocolate! Meet me in the kitchen later and I'll show you how much. ;-)
**I tend to buy the CDs (as opposed to buying from iTunes) of artists whose music I've been buying for years on CD. Out of a sense of wanting to complete a collection, I suppose. And besides, the iTunes version of The Works doesn't come with a digital booklet. Once all albums do, then I'll probably stop buying CDs for good.
UPDATE on Feb. 26: I mentioned "Coney Island Intro" and "King of My Love" only in passing yesterday, and I have a little more I want to say about them. "CII" is all accordion and "KOML" is loaded with could-have-been-tired playing-card metaphors, but both are terrific.
I also want to add the anti-fascist rocker "All You Fascists" to my list of Mermaid Avenue favorites; it's from Vol. II.