Beautifully Insane

P.J. Olsson is known for his distinctive voice and also rather bizarre arrangements that evoke images of an early Beck as he does on the hip-hop backbeat fuelling the leadoff song "Visine," which was also on his previous album. Building the song with different instruments in the vein of Joseph Arthur, Olsson manages to nail this song perfectly with his rootsy, earthy, neo-folksy sound. Meanwhile, "Soul Soul Superstar" is a light but infectious ditty that name-drops Grandmaster Flash. Here the singer sounds as if he's creating his own urban-meets-acoustic genre that falls somewhere between Matthew Sweet and Bloodhound Gang. Another tune that is excellently executed is the mid-tempo, strolling "The Whistle Song." When he's not going off in some eclectic musical direction, Olsson can capture great singer/songwriter nuggets like "Medicated" with its rather caustic chorus. The funky groove oozing from "Three Light Years and a Day" is a fantastic, radio-friendly tune. It also packs some bite that would fall somewhere between Jason Mraz and an acoustic-slanted Collective Soul. The biggest asset to this album is how Olsson is not afraid but willingly embraces different beats and backdrops, as he does on the dance-rock track "Wheels" and the stellar "Ocean of Blue." Here Olsson takes the best of both singer/songwriter and backbeat worlds to make a lengthy but memorable track that brings Bowie's later days to mind. The concluding moments are splotches of voices and sounds creating a trippy, psychedelic Floydian feel. Meanwhile, he ups the ante with "Flower," the closest anyone has come to Cameo's "Word Up" in a long time. Only on "Tomorrow" does the performer rely on a world-weary blueprint, resulting in a soft, balladic attempt that misses the mark.