This review appears in February's Discorder.
Scott Normandy
My Future. My Past. CD review
By Andrea Warner
My Future. My Past. is a groaner of a title—heavy handed and loaded. It’s meant perhaps to signify rumination, learning from one’s mistakes, growing up. If you can wade through the symbolism, Scott Normandy has crafted a decent solo debut of gentle and inoffensive folk rock that should please both fans of “sensitive” rockers like John Mayer and, on its best tracks, Blue Rodeo.
MFMP works best when it lightens the mood and picks up the pace with a country-twang infusion of energy on tracks like “My Life” and “No Disguises”. Unfortunately, the majority of the disc depends on quieter songs that sink the listener in profundity. “The Plea” repeatedly begs for answers about the meaning of life, and it’s just one of several songs relying on this indulgent self-reflection. (Pet peeve: The lyrics in the liner notes are riddled with faulty grammar, like ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’.)
There’s no denying Normandy has a lovely voice and is a talented musician, but it’s his next record that will determine more accurately if he goes the route of Jim Cuddy or James Blunt. Let’s hope it’s the former.
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