When Adam Levy sets out to make a solo album, he goes at it with complete commitment. Despite 20 years at the helm of the Honeydogs, his individual efforts show him touting a singular vision that pays no direct deference to his day job. The music he makes on his own isn’t simply a vanity project designed to exercise some eccentric whim or passing fancy. His work reflects an artist fully involved with the msuic, determined to create a set of songs that easily stands with any of the efforts he’s released before. In other words, he creates fully fleshed-out albums that show off his skills to their full effect.
That’s not to say Levy (who ought not be confused with the Norah Jones sideman of the same name) isn’t given to indulging a momentary muse. He’s had various side projects over the years, including electronic experimental music purveyed with Liminal Phase, an album of orchestral pop with And the Professor, children’s tunes under the guise of Bunny Clogs, jazz alongside Rose Room, and solid funk with Hookers & Blow. Many of these recordings will come as a shock to Honeydogs fans who expect something more melodic from the man who was largely responsible for the Honeydogs’ modest success.
Hopefully, then, those individuals will find a measure of reassurance with Naubinway, an album that bows wholeheartedly to Levy’s purer pop instincts. With a sound that recalls the best of Paul McCartney, Ron Sexsmith, Emitt Rhodes, Eric Carmen, and other melody-minded auteurs, Levy emphasizes melody over mayhem with the sweetest set of mid-tempo songs to come along since the demise of Badfinger. Oftentimes, Levy needs little more than an acoustic guitar and some subtle sweetening to get his point across — “Take It as It Comes, “Marigold,” “Naubinway,” and “Pitch Black Path” are some of the prime examples. But even when things build to a peak, as is the case on “When You Well Runs Dry,” it’s Levy’s keen blend of melody and melancholia that supplies the inherent charm.
Naubinway is a wonderful record worthy of wide discovery — an unassuming and yet auspicious accomplishment.
