Local favorite AM has been making high-quality tunes for quite some time now (and thankfully sharing them with us here at KCRW!) Every record has a slightly different take on things, whether it be his collaborations with Shawn Lee, his holiday tunes, his covers of tracks like "You Are in My System" the "The Rockford Files Theme," etc. His latest comes in the form of a record produced by acclaimed drummer Joey Waronker, whose work with the likes of Beck and Atoms for Peace have made him a producer & player very much in demand. Their work together comes under the title of AM's new album, Precious Life.
Smooth and sultry, Precious Life sounds like a long-lost soft rock album from the early 80s. Waronker adds the perfect polish to AM's hooky tunes, recalling the easy-flowing, but deeply felt sound of the Korgis' classic single, "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" (coincidently covered by Beck for the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" soundtrack). AM's subtle use of retro-sounding keyboards give a sense of timelessness to the proceedings, with tracks like "Love Is a Simple Plan" evoking both Radiohead and Neil Young, while remaining perfectly contemporary. Other tracks, like the instrumentals "Dreamscape" and "Aqua Velva," float along like a less-proggy Alan Parsons Project, featuring a gloss that always stays on the good side of pop music. Precious Life never really aims to change your life; rather AM, with the help of Joey Waronker, wants to simply point out the good things in life, things both mysterious & habitual - the things that make our lives all the more precious.
Tracklist:
- Dreamscape
- Precious Life
- Love and Habit
- The Move
- Heavenly Eyes
- Aqua Velva
- Love is A Simple Plan
- Mystery Sought, Mystery Lost
- Your Mistfortune
- No Truth
- The World Will Go On Without You