Look Park is a solo debut of sorts for
Fountains of Wayne lead singer and co-songwriter
Chris Collingwood, his first project outside of the seasoned power pop group. The musician has spurned the solo label, however, insisting that
Look Park is "band music," and he is joined on the album by a notable backing crew. Davey Faragher and
Michael Urbano, both former members of
Cracker with impressive sidemen credits, play bass and drums, respectively; acclaimed producer
Mitchell Froom (
Elvis Costello,
Bonnie Raitt) handles keys in addition to studio duties, and
Mike Viola and members of
Winterpills contribute backing vocals.
Collingwood also challenges expectations by embracing a more psychedelic palette here that includes Mellotron and synths, as well as a more consistently reflective tone than we're used to hearing from his band. Still in place are the songwriter's flair for bright, memorable melodies, those lucid vocals, and nods to classic pop. Wading in the realm of
Bacharach, "Stars of New York" is marked by acoustic guitar, synth strings, and wistful extended chords that accompany lyrics about romance and class division in the City ("They probably fall in love like you and I do"). The tango-charged "Minor Is the Lonely Key" is another of the more complex tunes that muses via music metaphor ("Mind the sharps and sing the melody alone/'Cause they can't hear the tune"). One of the trippier entries, "I'm Gonna Haunt This Place" has acoustic guitar, spare percussion, and organ voices, along with a melody and backing vocal line that would fit right in on
Sgt. Pepper's. A more celebratory offering, "Shout, Pt. 1" has jangle pop spirit and a singalong group vocal.
Collingwood does a good job here of separating
Look Park from his work with
Adam Schlesinger in a way that will likely bring along a lot of existing fans, and with material strong enough to make it hard to pick standouts. (Trivia of note: the album's cover art was designed by Shepard Fairey.) ~ Marcy Donelson