Fresh on the shelves

There’s a lot of good music percolating this time of the year. The Script is a hot new band that deserves a listen this month when its CD is released. Gavin DeGraw lives up to the promise of his first CD Chariot, and John Mayer proves he’s the consummate musician with a double CD Live set that’s like no other. All worth a listen and the purchase.

The Script — The Script (Sony BMG). This has to be one of the most assured, polished debut albums we will hear this year. An Irish trio, The Script has success written in the stars if only it can focus on what exactly it wants to be. At times a more soulful and lyrical Coldplay (Talk You Down and The Man That Can’t Be Moved), at times channeling artists like Jason Mraz and Kanye West (We Cry and Before the Worst), and on some tracks, sounding like some updated Police (Breakeven and Rusty Halo), the band has musical maturity and talent, but if anything, its fans will be legion but divided into factions, as the band is like some crafty chameleon. There’s even a reggae tinged number, If You See Kay, that personally, is my favorite; and it seems its closing track, I’m Yours, is its version of owning a sensitive ballad a la Extreme’s More Than Words. This is being hailed as the new face of Celtic Soul, and it’s very accessible and highly recommended.

Gavin DeGraw — Gavin DeGraw (Sony BMG). In Love With a Girl is the CD’s carrier single and it’s an irresistible summer tune (the video has the classic “trapped in a department store after closing” concept), that’s representative of the strong pop sensibilities of singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw. There’s a lot of plaintive yearning in his lyrics and the music is hook-ridden, all potential anthems of young love. I Have You to Thank, Untamed and We Belong Together I especially liked and they should be the next singles. There really isn’t anything truly outstanding on this CD, but almost all the tracks are well-crafted, and it’s the sort of CD you can just leave on while driving. Personally, I find the midtempo songs much stronger, as the fast tunes seem to have been written purely on the advice of the recording company, eager to have a monster hit to carry the sales of the CD. There probably is a much more solid songwriter hidden there, and maybe the third album and a more mature Gavin will help us discover that. For now, have fun with this sophomore effort.

Where The Light Is — John Mayer (Sony BMG). Forget the gossip tabloids of John with Jessica or Jennifer. He may have been bitten by the Hollywood bug in his search for that “good woman by his side,” but thankfully, the music is still in his heart (if not in his pants). Recorded and shot (there’s also a DVD with excellent Dolby Digital sound) at the Nokia Theater in LA last December, this is the John Mayer CD that puts it all in perspective. Starting off with an acoustic set, then with his blues Trio, and lastly, a closing set with his full band, it’s as if John opens for himself and gives us a middle act that helps define just how much of a musician he is. Most of the hits are all here, reworked and tweaked, as is the case with performers with a jazz background. If I have to register a complaint, it would be the omissions of No Such Thing and Back To You. Singer, blues musician, guitarist with an almost meditative quality, they’re all on awesome display, and this is the CD any true John Mayer fan should possess — and I don’t normally like Live CDs.