Ghost Notes

Critics are going to play spot-the-influence obsessively with this album, in part because critics find the game irresistible and in part because Matthew Barber evokes his influences so unabashedly on his third full-length release. What you hear will depend in part on your age and musical background, but several of the songs on Ghost Notes — especially the slightly wispy "Somebody Sometime" — sound like they could have been lifted off of a middle-period Neil Young album. But what comes through most clearly is his simple love of roots rock and folk-pop in general, not to mention the Tin Pan Alley tradition (check out the deceptively jaunty and, frankly, slightly hackneyed piano part on "I'm Gonna Settle My Accounts with You"). "One Little Piece of My Love" evokes 1950s skiffle music, while "Easily Bruised" perfectly embeds an unassuming hook in a nest of rootswise country-blues licks, Hammond B-3 organ, and acoustic guitar. Barber is constantly dancing back and forth across the line that separates delicate beauty from cloying preciousness: "And You Give" stays just on the right side of that line, while "Our Voices" falls neck-deep into the muck of overearnestness. "You and Me" — like most of the album — splits the difference perfectly, leavening a lusciously simple melody with just the right amount of tasteful steel guitar. Add the strengths and weaknesses together and you end up with a deeply satisfying listening experience.