Glen Phillips - Mr. Lemons

After listening to the post-Toad the Wet Sprocket output of Glen Phillips and Todd Nichols, it’s apparent that Glen was the creative genius behind the group. Lapdog, Todd’s band, has been largely forgettable, whereas Glen has been producing solid folk-rock albums, and his latest, Mr. Lemons, continues this tradition. Glen’s last album, Winter Pays for Summer, was his most commercial, and boasted higher production values than its stripped down predecessor Abulum. While the sophomore release was a good album with some decent songs, Glen works best on a more intimate level, and Neilson Hubbard, the producer this time around, steps back and lets Glen work his mojo on songs such as “Blindsight” and “Didn’t Think You Cared,” stepping in and giving just the right touch to the opener “Everything But You” and the single “Thank You.” He knows the value of a good closing track (just check out the closing songs on Fear and Dulcinea to see what I mean) and here offers the meditative (if not ironically titled) “Joyful Noise.” As he’s matured, his songwriting has changed to reflect more adult concerns. In the early years of Toad, the songwriter was still a teenager, and it shows on their early albums, particularly Pale. That’s not to say there isn’t melancholy on his latest–-it’s there in“I Still Love You,” maybe one of folk rock’s most wrenching songs this year. One of the album’s highlights is a cover of Huey Lewis and the News “I Want a New Drug.” Glen takes it and makes it his own. Fellow folk rocker Garrison Starr provides backing on several tracks, giving payback for Glen's guesting on her latest release The Sound of You and Me. As I mentioned earlier, Glen’s post-Toad product has been wonderful, and Mr. Lemons continues in this vein. While lacking the emotional wallop of Abulum, it offers up a stronger set than Winter Pays for Summer, and establishes him as a force in the folk rock community. [www.glenphillips.com]