Benji Cossa
"Between the Blue and the
Green" CD
Serious Business Records
Genre: lo-fi, folk, folk-pop
July 11 2008 |
This warm and varied lo-fi folk/pop offering is the second album from
talented singer/songwriter Benji Cossa, who knows his way
around a pop song and has a magnificent voice to boot. These thirteen
songs sound like they were fun to create, and they certainly are a joy
to take in. The entire album has a folky vibe, although the songs are
fairly eclectic - due no doubt in part to their being recorded over
multiple home sessions with variable casts of supporting musicians.
Cossa at times sounds like a classy lounge crooner ("Five More
Minutes Alone (Time Bomb)", "Time for a Change"), at times like an
outsider folkhound with a falsetto that would make Akron Family
proud ("Sunday," "Tonight"), and at times like a pure pop artiste
("Play the Bay," "Streets to Streams"). And there are even nods to the
Starbucks easy-folk crowd ("The Show is Over Everywhere," "Time for a
Change"), although Cossa maintains his artistic integrity via
his loose, unconventional delivery.
As it stands, this album's undeniable warmth and melodic nature
places it in an interesting position. In light of recent outsider folk
successes as Devendra Banhart and Akron Family,
Between the Blue sits right at the cutting edge of a hip young
genre. However, its songs' simple infectiousness lends it an appeal
that could exert its effects on just about any listener with a musical
curiosity transcending the Top 40. The question, then, is such: who
wouldn't like this?
benji
cossa's myspace
86%
youuuuuuuutube!:
sunday live
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 13 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released 2007] |
