Coda.fm

Ash Wednesday

by Elvis Perkins

• Listen to a preview now
• Buy it at Amazon.com

His smart and likable songs might be crammed with writerly details, but it's Elvis Perkins's voice that you notice and cling to, especially the way he pulls at the syllables. It's difficult not to term his music "dreamy" and this low-key, assured, and excellent debut recalls David Gray (if Gray were a lot less Hallmark-y). Perkins matches the crooning, knowing delivery and half-ironic lyrics of Rufus Wainwright with the visionary vocal gymnastics and love of obscure embellishments (circus/ marching band music plus singing saw, on the first song alone) of Jeff Mangum--the Neutral Milk Hotel singer who's been the influence du jour for a few years now. Perkins's worldview would seem to be revealed in the song title "It's a Sad World After All." But these aren't cry-baby numbers, and Perkins isn't going for the title of emo prince; he doesn't wear his eyeliner big and deep enough to be seen in the last row of the stadium. The songs are folky, pretty, and character-driven: like some wonderful, imagined collaboration between Donovan and Leonard Cohen. --Mike McGonigal