| · Never fear – he still sounds like Dylan.
You’re an upstart folk singer-songwriter. You put out an amazing first album full of quirky lyrics, passion and hard guitar strumming. You get some well-deserved buzz. You put out a couple more albums. You get some more buzz and make some "best-of" lists. What do you do next?
I didn’t think "mellow out" was the right answer either, but it feels like that’s what Dan Bern has done on Fleeting Days. Maybe it’s that he’s backed by a full band (the IJBC – make up your own full name) on every track. Maybe it’s the move to New Mexico. Maybe it’s just that he’s gotten older. Whatever it is, his songwriting seems to have lost some of its spark. Only "Fly Away," "Crow" and "Graceland" really have that classic Bern-ian feel – funny, literate and heartfelt. Of course, these days, having three very good songs on one album is nothing to sneeze at.
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