Aural Fixations

DAVID BAERWALD
Here Comes the New Folk Underground
(Lost Highway)
David Baerwald may be the most successful unreknowned songwriter in the world. He co-wrote and played on much of Sheryl Crow's breakthrough album Tuesday Night Music Club, including the massive single "Leaving Las Vegas." He wrote the Golden Globe-nominated love song "Come What May," used prominently in the film Moulin Rouge and already spawning cover versions. He toured with Jewel as her handpicked opening act and wrote the soundtrack to the cult movie Hurlyburly. Despite all this, most people probably remember him as a one-hit wonder, the artist behind the 80s hit "Welcome to the Boomtown" as half of the duo David + David.

Which is a shame, as he's consistently made some of the best American rock music in the past 20 years. Besides the excellent 1986 David + David record Boomtown, he's also the author of two superb solo albums, 1990's Bedtime Stories and 1992's Triage, which expertly blended Baerwald's gritty character studies and soulful baritone with flowing melodies and radio-friendly production. Unfortunately, songs about pedophiles, political and social unrest and the decay of Los Angeles as a metaphor for the breakdown of America aren't exactly the threads of which top 40 dreams are woven, and the combination of label neglect and challenging material insured public indifference to two of the best records of the 90s. Baerwald dropped out of making albums under his own name in favor of session and film work, but enough of his own songs accumulated that he realized it was time for another solo opus, if only he could find a label conducive to his needs. Lost Highway stepped up to the plate, and now we have Here Comes the New Folk Underground, the first David Baerwald album in a decade.

The first thing one notices about Underground is the clean, airy sound. Baerwald and his previous producers tended to bury his songs in dense arrangements of keyboards and guitars. His songcraft is such that no amount of production can blunt his impact, but less fussiness would have been nice. Wish granted; on this record he utilizes a lighter touch, with space-filled arrangements that draw inspiration from folk, roots rock and soul. He adorns probing cuts like "Why" and "The Crash" with touches of banjo and mandolin, while horn-flavored tunes like "Love #29," "Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down" and "Me and My Girl" find the midway point between 60s Motown and 70s Philadelphia. The result is the most relaxed album he's ever made; Baerwald sounds as comfortable in these arrangements as longtime lovers in bed on a weekend morning, and the listener can't help but be swept up in the good feeling. (more)

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