Glen Phillips
“Winter Pays for Summer”
Lost Highway Records
Perhaps it’s time for fans of Toad the Wet Sprocket to rejoice.
After the band disbanded following the release of “Coil” in 1997 and the subsequent touring behind the album (discounting the band’s reunion tour in 2003), front man Glen Phillips went on to start a solo career.
He released the toned-down, folksy “Abulum” in 2001, and a rocking live album two years later. Along the way a collaboration with the impressive pseudo-bluegrass band Nickel Creek surfaced (the Mutual Admiration Society disc recorded in 2000 but released in 2004).
Which brings us to his sophomore solo studio album, “Winter Pays for Summer,” a disc that, for the most part, is everything “Abulum” is not.
Not everything here is brand new to fans. “Thankful,” “Easier” and “Don’t Need Anything” were released on Phillips’ “Live at Largo” album a couple of years ago. There’s a couple of others that sprung up on his recent tours. Still, all these songs get the full treatment on “Winter…”
“Thankful” and “Easier” have been transformed into lush, mellow-rock tracks, perfect fare for adult contemporary (alternative?) radio. And the material, as a whole, is much more similar to what Phillips had been doing with his former band.
For this release, Phillips assembled an impressive pool of talent to work with — from Ben Folds and Kristin Mooney (providing backing vocals on “Courage”) to Greg Suran (of the Goo Goo Dolls) and Michael Chavez (from John Mayer’s band) playing guitar on a handful of tracks.
Phillips rarely misfires on this album. “Duck and Cover,” the disc’s opener, is the perfect representation of the singer-songwirter’s overall sound: laid-back rock-infused music with a hint of folk sensibility (very reminiscent of Toad’s sound) with great lyrics to boot (“It seems like life is a palindrome, cry when you die, cry when you’re born…”). Song’s like “Thankful” and “Falling” juxtapose nicely against the slower, more reflective “Courage” or “True.” Along the way, listeners might draw comparisons to Cat Stevens (“Released”) or James Taylor (“Simple”), but Phillips distinct voice owns the whole of the album.
“Winter…” is the perfect album as it caters to Phillips core of die-hard fans, but will definitely (if marketed and promoted correctly) find many more. There’s something present for a broad spectrum of tastes which makes this an album that could once again push Phillips to the front of the genre.
