| Print |

Wednesday, 29 March 2006 17:42

It is easy listening, hook-laden and brimming with catchy melodies that stay in your head long after you’ve listened to the album in its entirety.

It’s a story that’s been told before. Girl admires boy from a distance, boy admires girl from a distance. Girl bumps into boy at a bar—stuff happens. But what happens when the girl is Deb Talan and the boy is Steve Tannen, two award-winning singer songwriters with several records under their belts?

Four years since the day they met in a Boston Bar, Tannen and Talan are now collaborating together as the Weepies. Say I Am You is the Weepies’ newly released sophomore album under the Nettwerk label. It is easy listening, hook-laden and brimming with catchy melodies that stay in your head long after you’ve listened to the album in its entirety.

One might say that the strength of this album lies in Tannen and Talan’s distinct and catchy voices and their admirably empathic song writing abilities. Talan’s voice carries beautifully throughout each song; listen to “Stars” to really get a feel for her vocal talent. Tannen’s own voice, which slightly resembles Paul Simon’s, is heard more clearly in “The World Spins Madly On” and “Riga Girls.” From start to finish, each song has its own little joy.

It’s noticeable, though, that there’s something different in the Weepies’ album that isn’t in Tannen’s or Talan’s more somber solo albums; there’s something cutesier about Say I Am You. It’s the melodic folk-pop songs which remind one of lullabies, the album art and the amazing compatibility of their voices that give off this sense of happiness and warmth, a happiness that just oozes from the songs like a ray of sunshine through an open window. This is a CD that can be listened to while doing anything. It’s light material that can easily get the listener singing along and feeling good.

Don’t get me wrong; not everything about the album is lighthearted and joyful. The lyrics that make up the melodies are a complexity of emotions. On “Riga Girls,” Tannen and Talan sing of loss and emptiness, “Does your heart echo like a hall/’cause there’s no one there at all.” However, there’s also an uplifting persistence in their lyrics that is really touching. “Not Your Year” ends with, “There’s a world of shiny people somewhere else/Out there following their bliss, living easy, getting kissed/while you wonder what else you’re doing wrong/Breathe through it, write a list of desires/Make a toast, make a wish, slash some tires/Paint a heart repeating, beating/don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up.”

This CD is highly recommended to those who still cling slightly to pop music. And don’t forget, if you like what you’re hearing, you’ll want to check out their solo projects, too.

Purchase downloads for this artist at our BurnLounge.