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Graham Cousens: Living Room Sessions
[Spade Kitty]

Soon after popping this album into my stereo, I had press the eject button to make sure I wasn’t listening to some disc I bought years ago and happened to misplace.  Sure enough, I had the right CD, but as Living Room Sessions played on, I couldn’t shake the sense of musical deja-vu.  Not surprisingly, Graham Cousens’ style is straightforward, catchy acoustic pop; comparisons to Matthew Sweet and even the Beatles immediately come to mind.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the album is the fact that Cousens actually did it all himself – the vocals, music and recording – in his own Chicago living room.  For something put together on an Apple laptop, the quality is impressive.  While the songs are simple and clean, the uninformed listener (ahem, me) would never guess they were crafted by a one-man-band.

Most of the tracks deal with typical pop music/singer-songwriter material: love and life and, well, love.  Highlights are the female name-titled tracks “Julia” and “Emily,” and the standout “Comfort Me.” 

It’s killing me that I feel like I’ve heard this before, but then again, I guess that’s another reason to keep this top-notch album in rotation.

Check Amazon, Insound and CD Universe to purchase this album.

Graham Cousens Official Website

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