Gentle-voiced James O'Malley contemplates life, love, and leaving home on I'm Ready. Like other singer/songwriters, O'Malley offers a handful of carefully written compositions concerning the things closest to his heart. "Letting Go" offers a tender ballad about watching one's child leave home, and how accepting the transition doesn't necessarily make it any easier. "Jimmy and John" begins as a simple story of two brothers who sneak out at night before developing into a thoughtful allegory about how even the smallest decisions at a young age lead to different paths in life. The arrangements on I'm Ready consist of no more than a guitar and an occasional harmonica, harking back to the early singer/songwriters of the mid-'60s. Like many singer/songwriters, O'Malley's songs occasionally seem self-absorbed. One imagines that he intends the listener to feel sorry for the protagonist who stayed out late drinking in "Patty, Please," but his method of winning her back -- begging her to take him back -- becomes tiresome before the song is over. The closer, "Always Tomorrow," has an upbeat message, but the sluggish pace of the tune keeps it mired in the doldrums. Fans of straightforward folk with thoughtful lyrics, though, will find most of I'm Ready easy to enjoy.
© Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. /TiVo