Mine and Yours
Gifted with an airy tenor that recalls no less thanDavid Gates,Harry Nilsson, andPaul McCartneyon one hand andMatthew SweetandSqueeze's Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook on the other, David Mead has concocted a sophomore album that's the quintessence of deceptively breezy pop. New York-born and Nashville-wizened Mead again pays homage to economical songwriting and displays a host of artistic influences that span Tin Pan Alley,Lennon & McCartney, '70s folk pop, and post-new-wave sensibilities. Crucially, he shows allegiance to none of them, finding a refreshing liberation in the form, aided in the quest here by the subtle, haunting production ofFountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger. And if Mead's mostly sunny lyrical concerns could stand a dash of Big Apple tartness, it'll be hard for any pop true believer not to be charmed by the buoyant baker's dozen songs here, from theXTC-isms of "Girl on the Roof" and the title track to the earlyElton Johnechoes of "Figure of Eight," and the spare, bittersweet melodicism of "What I Want to Do" and "Only in the Movies."--Jerry McCulley