Shut Down the Streets (Bonus Track Version)

A.C. Newman's third solo LP reaches back to bygone pop classics for its soft tones and lush, inviting textures. Newman evokes artists like Bread and Gerry Rafferty (whose track "Baker Street" Newman cites as an "obsession" during recording) as much as The Shins and Belle & Sebastian, with Newman subjecting pillowy choruses and sweet melodies to the warm, spacious production he uses on his solo records. Inspired by life-changing events like birth (his son) and death (his mother), Newman has written poignant songs without holding much back. The warm burbles of organ and gentle cascades of acoustic guitar and clarinet notes make fine foundations for his emotional expressions. On the bubbly and winsome "I'm Not Talking" and the ghostly waltz "You Could Get Lost Out Here," one can feel the uncertainty that likely beleaguers all new parents: a mixture of joy and fear accompanied by the startling knowledge that everything has changed forever. The title track is a moving, lilting piece about grief. One of Newman's many gifts is letting the listener in on his secrets while giving us the space to live with our own.