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Brett Dennen – So Much More

People walk a tightrope on a razor’s edge.
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons.
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pen.
Or a thought or a word or a sentence.
- “Ain’t No Reason”, Brett Dennen

I’m not even sure where to start here.  On one hand, I have a CD that has made itself permanently at home in the cd player in my car.  Sunny afternoon, top goes down.  Volume goes up.  My head bobs to a sound that is so catchy I’m continually amazed that it hasn’t been picked up by radio.  On the other hand, perhaps the cold shoulder afforded from top 40 radio can be attributed to the fact that this cd is lyrically as good as anything I’ve ever heard. I mean let’s be honest here, no one is tuning in to everyones’ favorite trainwreck, Britney Spears, to hear her expound on topics ranging from out-of-control pharmaceutical costs to the war in Sudan, y’all

Then there’s the obvious, and likely the main, reason that you won’t hear Brett Dennen on any radio station not run by a college.  He ain’t cute.  Not even close to it.  He’s an overweight, pre-pubescent looking (he’s actually 27), long-haired red head… and he’s kind of dumpy looking. The photogs at The Ivy wouldn’t even notice him walking in the front door, so he’s not exactly “marketable”. That’s good for two reasons, mostly.  First, he’ll never get signed to a major label that would, in turn, dictate the direction of his music. Second, his message will continue to be genuinely real because let’s face it… a rich white guy singing about the ridiculousness of the government’s response to that little rainstorm that blew through New Orleans a couple of years ago would- well, it just wouldn’t ring the same.

Now that we’ve judged the book by the cover, let us delve into some of the chapters.  Brett’s latest CD (released in 2006) titled “So Much More” is the sophomore follow-up to his self-titled 2005 release. The cd opens with the apathetic generation X anthem “Ain’t No Reason” in which Brett unleashes his scratchy yet buttery voice all over topics like personal wealth, prejudice, increasing prison populations, and the military industrial complex. Perhaps a tad too naively, he belts out the chorus “Love will come set me free… I do believe.”

The following track “There Is So Much More” touches eloquently on human compassion and one person’s meaning of life. A deep self-evaluation of empathy for his fellow man and woman comes across as sincerely touching in these dire times and the need to find meaning in one’s life are all themes that we often contemplate in those moments during our day that we drift away from the mundane.

The album isn’t all doom and gloom however, as Brett ascends to the more lively and upbeat romps on “Darlin’ Do Not Fear” and “When You Feel It”.

“The One Who Loves You Most” is where the wonderfully subtle production meets the mastery of his lyrical abilities. Lines about “women with stolen graces” and “daughters with fake faces” reminded me of too many of the girls I knew long ago in college.  Hopefully they found their own Brett Dennens to love them the most.

In my opinion, “I Asked When” is the crown jewel of this already incredible album.  The hook is no more than four notes played ad nauseum which allows the focus to fall again on the strikingly emotional content.  Amidst a seemingly endless laundry list of the ridiculous ineptitude that we in the “civilized” nations continue to accept from our governments, Brett crows simply… “I asked when is the revolution”. When will we all get so fed up with it all that we finally awake from our slumber and say “Hey, this isn’t right”?

This album is, quite simply, the best album front to back that I’ve heard in years. I’m not sure why it evokes in me the emotions that it does, but I think its likely the appeal to the exasperated and helpless in my generation that stand at the base of a mountain of problems and know things must change.  We just don’t know where to start.