MP3 Tom Freund - Collapsible Plans

This CD touches on the finest of the California sound with roots rock, inflections of jazz and the lyrical writing of a folk artist.

10 MP3 Songs in this album (39:25) !
Related styles: ROCK: Adult Contemporary, FOLK: Folk-Rock

People who are interested in Jackson Browne Ben Harper should consider this download.


Details:
Itâs in the seemingly effortless ease with which he delivers his conversational lyrics and mellifluous melodies, this natural magic that is at the heart of Tom Freundâs music. Though heâs well-schooled and widely-traveled in a variety of genres -- from hearftelt folk to buoyant pop to boho jazz to straightforward rock ânâ roll, and beyond -- Freund ultimately comes across simply as a singer-songwriter with his own singularly distinctive and engaging voice.

Collapsible Plans, Freundâs fourth full-length album, puts that voice -- in terms of both his artistic identity and his evocative singing -- front-and-center. Produced by his longtime friend Ben Harper, and featuring piano and vocal contributions from Jackson Browne on two tracks, Collapsible Plans is Freundâs most focused and fully realized recording to date, combining top-shelf musicianship with the strongest set of songs Freund has yet gathered on a single disc.

âI wanted to make a record for a long time that really felt like âa time and a place,â the way records used to be made,â Freund says. âMy last couple were done in different states and with different folks; this one feels very tangible to me and my life at this time. It was great having Ben in the room with me; I trusted his sensibilities as a fellow songwriter.â

Perhaps the most telling aspect of Freundâs songs is that âI just walk away singing them constantly,â Harper observes. âTom has written consistently strong songs for as long as Iâve known him.â

Theyâve known each other for nearly two decades, and in 1992 recorded the limited-release Ben Harper & Tom Freund LP Pleasure And Pain, which helped to launch Harperâs career. Freund subsequently spent several years playing bass with acclaimed roots-rock band the Silos before striking out on his own with North American Long Weekend, his 1998 solo debut on the Mercury subsidiary Red Ant Records.

Since then, Freund has alternated between recording and touring behind his own discs (2001âs Sympatico and 2005â s Copper Moon, plus a couple of EPs) and playing upright bass, electric bass guitar, and mandolin with the likes of British pub-rock great Graham Parker and rising groove-soul sensation Brett Dennen. (Youâll even find him on a couple of tracks from pop star Mandy Mooreâs 2007 disc Wild Hope.)

A 2006 summer tour with Harper helped rekindle the old friendsâ collaborative spirits, which led to Harper getting involved as producer of Collapsible Plans. âIâve always been a fan of Tomâs work, and I thought that I had something to bring to Tom sonically that was maybe a place he hadnât stepped into yet,â Harper says.

Two tracks on Collapsible Plans feature the unmistakable piano and vocal contributions of Browne, who Freund had recently met at a show. âJackson and I were both asked to perform at a benefit for our friend Wally Ingram in the Hollywood Hills,â Freund recalls. âI got up and started to play âWhy Wyoming,â which I had just written, and by the second verse I hear this amazing piano, and then by the second chorus I hear these amazing vocals. I turn around, and there is Jackson, like an old friend, jamming on my little song as if we had done it a thousand times before!â

The songs on Collapsible Plans also benefit greatly from the musicianship of Harper, who played lap steel and sang backup on many tracks as well as adding occasional touches of percussion, vibes, Wurlitzer, mandocello, and harmonium. Others who contributed to the recording include guitarist Michael Ward and keyboardist Jason Yates of Harperâs band the Innocent Criminals, as well as drummer Michael Jerome and keyboardist Fil Krohnengold.

Their playing provides an exquisite and fitting frame for Freundâs captivating compositions. âWhat really brought me to wanting to work with Tom in the studio is his songs,â Harper concludes. âIt doesnât have to even go any further than that. As far as Iâm concerned, who wouldnât wanna work with him in the studio? Because the songs are there.â

QUOTES:

"Every year the mounting landfill of new releases that threatens to bury the working music journalists yields a few unexpected gems, and Tom Freund is one of them." - THE NEW YORK TIMES

"A fitting soundtrack to 'On the Road': Gorgeous wide-open spacious scenes, explorations of the young heartand quests from personal truth unfold in its literate, rootsy songs." -NEW YORK POST

"Freund clearly delights in enigma. His vocals could go from laconic to impassioned without such obvious trickery as cranking up the volume. His lyrics are full of curveballs." - WASHINGTON POST

"Journeyman Freund is soundtrack ready. He made an album that is all at once addictive, stylistically diverse and honest to the core." -MSNBC

"An organic collection of songs and stories, breathing with an acoustic richness and lyrics that capture slices of Americana in a way that many attempt, yet very few actually master." - NO DEPRESSION

"If Tom Petty and Nick Drake had a love child." - BLOGCRITICS.COM

"Tom Freund is indeed one of the great singer-songwriters. He constructs a unique world, defines it, and then burns it to the ground. Truly unique and absolutely brilliant." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"I get shivers down my spine on almost every tune. Along with Lucinda Williams, Freund is the best singer/songwriter operating today." - GRAHAM PARKER

** GET ON TOM'S EMAIL LIST: e-mail:tom@tomfreund.com and tell him what city you are in