“I used to find delight / But I’ve been changed by modern devices / I’ve got a pocket filled with life / Yet somehow end up empty handed,” Salt Lake City’s Scott Lippitt sings on his latest twelve song offering, Me, You, and the Avenues. It was his attempt to step away from brain rotting technology that sent him on a journey to collaborate with twelve other Salt Lake City artists and make an attempt at three-dimensional connection with other people, through his satisfying indie music, which recalls Bombay Bicycle Club’s electronic-influenced indie pop, and Sufjan Steven’s penchant for horns and arpeggiated guitar flourishes and female accompanying vocals.
From songs about Icarus (“Icarian Holiday”) to songs about making another copy of himself (“Thin Glass”), he has a bit of mythology, a bit of sci-fi, in his world building. And while he lands firmly in the indie pop category, there is a sophistication to his song arrangements, formed around acoustic guitar, then filled with intricate symphonies of alternative sound.
The album starts strong with a heart-wrencher about a relationship he chooses to have, even though the other person is leaving in a couple of months. “I wrote a list / of what I wanted to do / before we’re no more / I know it will hurt, but it’s worth it.” It is that kind of courage and charm and charisma that typifies much of the album. Like his beautiful previous album, Meaning Maker, he attempts to dig for meaningful connections in his latest work, with an exemplary creativity.
It’s a bold move, to collaborate on a few songs on an album, let alone the whole album, and the album, I think, is both bolstered and hampered by the inclusion of other artists. The middle of the album, for example, is not as impressive as the front and the back, though the collaborators always add a sort of magic to the tracks. There is a bit of a lack of cohesion to the tracks, perhaps also because of the collaborative aspect, but in every song is Lippitt’s charming, hit-worthy songwriting, along with the great addition of his local music friends, who fit like a glove into the master hand of Lippitt’s work. It was a good introduction to an artist that I think is making some pretty darn good indie music right now, and I think it’s worth checking out, even if some tracks hit you better than others.
Prism Reviews 