Brett Dennen - Hope Forthe Hopeless

Thu 6th Nov, 2008 in Music Reviews

Singer-songwriters have almost become a cliché. It’s a term that conjures up thoughts of twinkling acoustic guitar chords, bong-smoke philosophy and relaxed vibes. But while they’re easy to write off, they put together a lot of great songs – Joni Mitchell, anyone?

Brett Dennen has a lot of famous well-wishers. While celebrity fans can draw a lot of attention, they can also call into question the value of an artist’s achievements. But with a singer-songwriter like Dennen, there’s not a great deal of artifice to cut through. They’re simple songs with drums, guitars and keys. That’s it. Hope for the Hopeless switches between pop-rock tracks that amble forward effectively and the kind of meandering folk arpeggios that teenage girls swoon over. The most immediate part of all the songs is certainly his voice: a mix of Train’s Pat Monahan-smooth croon and the throaty yelps of Nathan Willett. But the vocals are just the first thing to hit, unsurprising on an album as subtle as this.

The drums on World Keeps Turning hide gentle backing vocals that complete a doo-de-doo bridge that makes it a subtle track well worth a few looks. Dennen can certainly put a song together – as album highlights Closer to You and Ain’t Gonna Lose You, a dead-on Ryan Adams impression – prove. But it’s pretty clear that Dennen has worn himself a nice, comfortable little niche. While there are some great tracks here, the album does them a disservice by letting them run together and become too easy to ignore.

While the best albums bleed together, Dennen’s manages to sink into homogeneity without even noticing. This is a good album, but Dennen doesn’t seem to be taking enough risks to elevate it above the generic singer-songwriter tag. While there are moments that seem a little underwritten and over-emoted ( Follow Your Heart ), it has a great feel when it feels sure of itself. He can certainly write lyrics, and he’s also aware that sometimes he doesn’t need to. But on Hope for the Hopeless, the line is a little skewed. Until there’s something to break up the heartfelt slow songs, for all his potential Dennen is destined for little more than indie teen film soundtracks. There’s hope for the future, but this one’s not quite there.

Hope For The Hopeless is out now on Downtown Records through Inertia.