Back in the seventies, there was this particular strain of easy-going music, relaxing in Laurel Canyon, that unfortunately got washed out with watered-down easy-listening and ironic detachment. Music today is about reviving all the styles of yore, and Toronto’s Jason Collett delivers his own brand of seventies wry sweetness with his latest, Head Full of Wonder.
Even in songs like the opener “Dark Times”, the days are good, lazy Sundays to lie about “Up the River” or by the “Sweet Water Sea”. There are smiling looks back on a comfortable, uncomplicated life in “Milk & Honey” and “Have Some Fun”. There’s a real maturity to Collett, not trying to prove anything, just taking it nice and slow. He’s someone who can ask, “I only hope your revolution leaves a little room / For dancing closer to the truth” in “Closer To the Truth”.
Collett’s first new record in six years, his style hasn’t changed, but doesn’t need to when he’s this comfortable making music this comfortable.
