Leaving Notes

On his debut album under the Late Call name, Johannes Mayer demonstrates that he has the same well-meaning approach as any number of modern folk-pop mood merchants have had in recent years — which is to say, "let X = Nick Drake." If Leaving Notes works within familiar ground to a large extent, what Mayer is able to demonstrate at points is a sense of flair and deft flow that recalls another cult figure just as strongly, namely Tim Buckley. A song like "Sleep Some" calls to mind the warmth of that singer and some of his more experimental acolytes such as Butterfly Child, Mayer's vocals finding an easy sweep over the straightforward enough arrangement, while the rising strings on "Cards on the Table" and the squeezebox on "Linnéa" further flesh out an often rich-sounding release. Other songs like "Put Your Lights On" and "Thinking What to Say" are more run of the mill in comparison, pleasant but not deathless.