Much different than his previous endeavors with
Spearhead,
Songs from the Front Porch takes
Michael Franti and puts him in an acoustic setting with a stronger emphasis on songwriting/storytelling, singing, and performance. Songwriting skills that show traces of
Ben Harper and
Terry Callier along with a vocal delivery on par with those two are fairly obvious from the get-go. The manner in which
Songs was recorded gives the record an immediate sense of intimacy, almost as if you're on the front porch of his brownstone and he's playing the songs directly to you for the first time.
Songs retains the intelligent lyrics of his earlier efforts with
Spearhead, and nowhere is this more evident than on "Oh My God," an iron-hot discourse on the state of the union, circa 2003. At 40 minutes, there's no unnecessary filler, and while the album has a tendency to become a bit preachy at times, it's refreshing to see
Franti's versatility outside of the hip-hop arena. ~ Rob Theakston