Luke Jackson - ...And Then Some

Now situated in Toronto, Swedish songsmith Luke Jackson sounds like he grew up listening to a lot of pop radio. This is both a curse and a blessing. Let’s break it down: The curse – trite lyrics and string arrangements (think Edwin’s 1999 mega-cheese hit Alive) paired with predictable chord progressions in stock verse-chorus formats. The blessing – tastefully thick layers of vocal oohs and ahhs, neat interludes (see: the fuzz bass and Hammond organ-driven breakdown in Longest Days), and bouncy feel-goodery (see: the unabashed nostalgic romp that is Goodbye London). The end result falls somewhere between The Beatles’ most honest and poppy bits and adult contemporary hits. There’s a fine line between earnest and cheesy, and Jackson walks it precariously.

Published in Volume 63, Number 20 of The Uniter (February 12, 2009)

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