The Golden Coast

"I wanna do whatever I want," Johnnie Newman insists on the defiant "OK," the song which opens the singer/songwriter's debut album The Golden Coast. Who would dare stand in the way of this budding genius? So Newman got his wish, and unleashed this daringly different set. Jacob Bercovici's beautifully understated production cossets the album in soft gauze, although the sound is crystalline, conjuring up the fluffy sound of '70s pop/rock. That's a style that Newman masters on numbers like "OK" and "Scarecrow," even as he sprinkles both '60s pop and '80s rock on top. But listen close and you can ferret out a plethora of styles within this set. "Birds of Paradise," for example, flutters from electronica to soul, R&B to '80s rock. The fatalistic "Snakebitten" takes C&W to a tent revival, while "Call to Arms" introduces the Fab Four to the New Romantics, who are in turn taken on a tour of Stax on "Aberdeen." The softness of the sound belies the heady hybridization going on just under the surface, so subtle it never disturbs the musical coherence of the set. Nor do Newman's creative fires burn out with the music, for his lyrics are just as imaginative, with ear-catching lines popping up throughout the album. From "run for cover it's heartbreak weather," to "the angel cavalries" that sweep into "Aberdeen," The Golden Coast is a fascinating place you'll never want to leave.