Pete Yorn - Back and Fourth

No, that's not a typo.

Pete Yorn has released his fourth studio album, Back and Fourth (clever, huh?), the first to escape  "the trilogy" of musicforthemorningafter, Day I Forgot, and Nightcrawler.

This is definitely his best album since musicforthemorningafter, but sadly, it falls a little short. Not that Pete Yorn is one to make shockingly life changing albums for the majority of the population, but I enjoyed the radio worthiness of musicforthemorningafter and have been known to sing "For Nancy" in the shower from time to time. Shut up...

Anyway, this album's alright. Pretty mediocre through and through. He does seem to have a bit more of a country twang on this album, especially in the first single, "Don't Wanna Cry". This song is right on the other side of the border of what I consider an okay amount of country in a song (see: Old 97's).

This album did come out just in the knick of time, though. With tracks like "Paradise Cove", "Last Summer" and "Thinking of You", this album easily could be that summer-camp romance album.

The only thing that saves this album is Yorn's voice. Apparently he's gone through some pretty nasty rough patches since '06's Nightcrawler, and you can tell. His voice has this hint of sorrow in it that hasn't quite been there before, especially on "Long Time Nothing New", which is easily the best song on the album. Minimal guitar and piano set an amazing stage for that voice of his, without leaving the song sounding underproduced and naked (as if, when you're working with producers like Mike Yogus).

The album in general is well produced and the cover art hails a throw back to 60's Doors, but all in all, it's certainly not going to be the album of the year. C

Pete Yorn's Site