That Sweet, Sweet Science

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 19, 2007 8:15PM

Remember Kid Million? That sort-of loud, sort-of anthemic, sort-of sloppy band from a few years back? Remember their singer, David, um Singer? We sure do. In Kid Million, we always liked Singer's penchant for crafting a slightly quirky hook, and his sweet and slightly strained tenor. After Kid million dissolved (did they ever actually break up?) Singer went on to release a number of solo albumsunder the guise of David Singer and the Sweet Science. Each disc was met with positive reviews and critical goodwill, but Singer has never been able to really break out of the Chicago scene, despite having had national distribution from relatively prominent indies in the past.

That just might cahnge with Singer's latest solo foray, East of the Fault Line, since it's his best yet. Solid pop chops course through the album songs, amidst punch and well-rounded production, containing a dimension lacking on some of Singer's previous albums. He's found a way to spice up the orch-pop he's been practicing the last few years, infusing it with some of the broader brush-strokes, if not the volume, of Kid Million. The title track is an excellent example of this, interspersing crunching power-chords with delicate piano playing. And then there's the space-d out synth rolling through "Halflight" that provides a lovely counterpoint to the bittersweet melodies therein. We dig it.

Singer celebrates the release of his new album at The Hideout this Saturday. It's an earlier show than usual, starting at 8 p.m., so keep that in mind!