Winner of the 11th season of American Idol -- aka, the last season to feature
Steven Tyler and
Jennifer Lopez as judges --
Phillip Phillips doesn't strictly seem like a pop star, probably because he doesn't sing pop music.
Phillips is in thrall to his idol
Dave Matthews, patterning every little detail of his style after the jam band icon, borrowing the stuttering acoustic strums and elastic vocal phrasing, letting his folk-rock wander into jazz and smooth soul. So many elements of
Phillips' 2012 post-Idol debut
The World from the Side of the Moon are taken from early
Dave Matthews Band albums it could easily be mistaken for a forgotten
DMB record from 1997.
Phillips favors both the loverman croon of
Matthews ("Wanted Is Love," "A Fool's Dance") and
DMB's raucous party tunes ("Get Up Get Down," written in the style of "Ants Marching") and, it has to be said, he nails his impression, getting each minor inflection precisely right. Consequently,
The World from the Side of the Moon delivers upon
Phillips' promise: it is a streamlined, smoothed-out
Dave Matthews Band album, stripped of any of
DMB's idiosyncratic quirks and instrumental virtuosity. [A Deluxe Edition included three bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine