Singer/songwriter/pianist Ian McGlynn introduces himself with an hourlong live debut album, accompanied only by bassist Bill Knudson and his father, drummer Ed McGlynn, performing 15 songs before a small audience at the Lemon Lounge. McGlynn has a burnished, breathy tenor reminiscent of Michael Brown, Colin Blunstone, and Michael Franks, suggesting that a set of covers easily could include the Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee," the Zombies' "Time of the Season," and "Popsicle Toes," all faithfully rendered. But this album contains all McGlynn originals, and they are moody songs of intimate dialogue, for the most part, the repetitive, trance-like lyrics sung over rolling melodies led by McGlynn's piano figures, which are more suggestive of new age than pop/rock, as if he's gotten more out of listening to David Lanz than Billy Joel. Since McGlynn restricts his stage remarks to perfunctory comments, the introspective mood is largely uninterrupted throughout the album, making this, oddly, a debut that seems intended more for the initiated than one likely to attract new fans. (But then, it is released in a tin box limited to 1,000 copies, so maybe that's the idea.)
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo