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These Familiar Days presents a familiar departure for steadfast Boston singer Max Heinegg. Those who knew MaxÂ’’s first band, The High Ceilings, (in which, yes, I had a cup of coffee on bass) could sense that quieter elements were percolating under the surface of the bombast. 2004Â’’s By June came closer to realizing those Nick Drake and Neil Young influences. With this latest release, Max takes yet-another step away from psychedelic-emo-band-leader toward folk-rocker poet. What is surprising is the depth of new instrumental color, namely keys and sax, which appear here. IÂ’’m not sure it all works: the playing of Morphine sax player Dana Colley feels like something of a paste-on afterthought. Then again, if I had Dana Colley available, IÂ’’d probably use him too. The keyboard work of Maclain Diemer, Jason Dunn and the organ of Ian Kennedy is quite effective, and IanÂ’’s string arrangements and playing are gorgeous. Max’Â’s singularly haunting voice is in fine form, if a bit less expansive than in the past, and his poetry-as-lyric craft is profound. These Familiar Days finds Max Heinegg continuing to follow new sonic paths. Future releases should end up in intriguing destinations. (Brian Westbye)

Links:
Official Site: http://www.maxheinegg.com/

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Record Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.