Brooks John Martin – Brooks John Martin (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

I guess the fact that Brooks John Martin‘s latest album, his fifth to date, has an eponymous title and a simple picture of himself on the cover speaks volumes about the artist and his creative outlook. It says that clever wordplay and eye-catching imagery are not what he is about. It subtly reminds us that he is a singer-songwriter, and the music on the album is the only thing that matters.

But anyone who delivers an album’s worth of songs this great, this deftly wrought, this seductive, this sophisticated yet straightforward knows they have the sonic goods to back up such an attitude. In short, he has songs that sell themselves.

The musical moods err on the side of the understated, but that is not to say that Martin can’t write songs with groove but the opener, “Tide Will Carry Me Away” shows that even when he takes such a route, space and understated elegance abound. At the other extreme are songs like “Breathe,” a piano-led ballad swathed in exquisite and gentle neo-classical sweeps. Between these two songs he marks out his signature sonic territory.

“Millions” feels like *Neil Young* at his most romantic and cinematic, “She Loves Him More Than Me” is the most pacey song here, but it is still layered and textured and softened with drifting sonics, and “Don’t Waste The Night” leans in slightly to a more New Wave pop vibe, but never loses sight of his eloquent and elegant rootsy, singer-songwriter sound.

Let others employ guest rappers and dance routines, and add studio gizmos and sonic gimmicks. Brooks John Martin is all about the songs; this album is all the proof you could need to back that up.