Twelve Mondays

After being released from his major label recording contract, Ari Hest spent a year on his 52 project where he wrote, recorded and released a new song each week for a year. The highlights from these efforts form the core of 2009’s Twelve Mondays where 12 fan favorites were re-recorded for this more manageable collection. Hest has a naturally warm voice and penchant for middle- of-the-road singer-songwriter fare. Whether he’s finding his way through a finger-picked folk tune (“The Weight”), a piano-drenched ballad (“Learn”) or a dramatic piece of pop (“Dead End Driving”), Hest sounds like a road-weary veteran who knows how to make the most of his talents. He never over-reaches. Where his previous major label releases emphasized a muscular rock tone meant to accentuate his pop side, Hest’s indie status allows him to explore abstract textures and subtler arrangements, and “Broken Voices” has a creeping, hallucinatory quality to its instrumental swoops and Hest’s electronically enhanced vocal track.