Brett Dennen
Hope For The Hopeless
Dualtone Music Group

I was immediately taken by Dennen's debut album So Much More a couple of years ago and still kept playing it from time to time up until I got hold of his new one. For a long time I thought he was my own secret new favourite, until it turned out that he has gotten quite a following in the US and more and more people dropped his name. Which is nothing less than great.

Where his debut moved around in different genres and moods, Hope For The Hopeless is taking the step - a big one really - towards more flowery pop and less of the folksy (in a Paul Simon kind of way) pop from So Much More. The reflective and sensitive side has been replaced by a more outgoing and self assured side.

But this is not all for the bad. It serves a contribution by Femi Kuti ("Make You Crazy") and catchy, soulfull songs like "When She's Gone" and sweet, touchy tunes like "Far From Me".

If I had to make a choice - which I don't - I'd have to say that the debut still ranks above Hope For The Hopeless. Not because of the songs, not because of the difference in sound between the two, but because of the general feeling of a more sensitive and asking artist the first time around.

Copyright © 2009 Anders Svendsen