If “Courage” and “Released” had appeared on “Abulum” they would have been stripped bare and sounded dour and ponderous. That is the difference between “Winter Pays for Summer.” and “Abulum.” “Cleareyed” and “Falling” follow “Released” and are both very good mid-tempo tracks that close out a strong first half of the album. Both songs feature excellent backing vocals throughout but the harmonies are not as catchy as what Dinning and Nichols would have provided had these songs appeared on a Toad the Wet Sprocket album.
The second half of the album is still good and features some solid songs. This half does not flow as nicely as the first half and lacks some of the spark found on songs like “Duck and Cover” and “Thankful.” “Halflife” and “True” are two of the best songs on the second half of the disc with the latter featuring some of the finest vocals Phillips has ever committed to tape.
“Easier” is obviously a very personal song describing Phillips’ relationship with his wife. It might be a little too personal because some of the lyrics are a bit silly in the context of a rock song. The point behind the song, to describe a loving relationship that has matured beyond lust and romance, is interesting and underused in contemporary rock music. Using lines such as “Tree climbing earth mama beautiful evergreen girl” to describe your wife and referring to yourself as a “Birkenstock geek” is awkward and keeps the song from being everything it could. The acoustic guitar riff is good but not good enough to save the song.
The good songs far outweigh the lesser songs and the production and arrangements give “Winter Pays for Summer” an ear candy effect not heard on a Phillips album since the Toad days. Trimming two songs from the record would have made it a leaner, more satisfying listen but this is a small gripe. Phillips has made his finest solo record to date.
GRADE: A-
Article comments
1 - lono
I am a big big fan of Glen and Toad, having seen them combined (either Glenn solo or Toad together) about 7 times. Glenn is coming to town soon, and supposedly with a band (which I hardly believe).
anyhow, I am still holding out for another Toad re-union. Glenn is great and all, but only 100% with the power and talent of the whole group behind him. I'll probably skip this club show coming (Soiled Dove, Denver) because I have seen him there a few times before.
2 - SFC SKI
At first I thought you meant GlenN Philipps, incredible unsung instrumentalist. (no pun intended)
3 - Matt Wardlaw
Lono,
Unlike Abulum, this new album is very much Toad-like, and unlike many of his recent tours, he is touring with a band on the current tour - sounds like a show you might want to rethink, and go catch!
4 - Elias
Glen's full band tour for the record was great. in response to the toad thing, he has said he will never work with Toad again, he simply doesn't get along with Todd and Dean anymore and has gone so far as to say that they (toad) are not good people when together.
sadly Lost Highway didn't promote the album at all and Glen has since left the label to contunite his indie career with a new dark acoustic album produced by Brad Wood and Neilson Hubbard (to be release in 2006)