On
Heavy Mellow,
Nik Freitas comes into his own, expanding on the instrumentation of his debut for a true-blue pop album that grafts the indie smarts of
Quasi to '70s AM rock and mellow gold collections. On his sophomore outing,
Freitas comes closest in groove and pop eclecticism to
Todd Rundgren. "Be Honest" has the fuzzy-around-the-edges heaviness of
Something/Anything? combined with the slippery, jazzy hallmarks of
Steely Dan. "Summer Hearts" is a beautifully nostalgic piano tune where
Freitas moans "summer hearts can't be broken" as if he's trying to do
John Lennon singing "Jealous Guy." On "Penny" he's probably shooting more for
Mind Games crossed with early-'70s
Elton John, and "Nursery Street" could easily fit on a
Ryan Adams album. If
Here's Laughing at You showed
Freitas to have enormous potential,
Heavy Mellow proves that he is, as promised, a brilliant pop tunesmith. His only failure on the romantic record would seem to be self-created: on "Sentimental Life" he sings, "I don't want to be a sentimental guy." Sorry
Nik. ~ Charles Spano