CD Review from Brooke AT Sonic Jive

[presto66]

I had to look up some of her words (haha) but a nice review of my CD. Check it out.Paul Street - StreetwiseYear: 2007 Genre: country.and country/pop crossoverFormat: CDTotal Time: 39:11Reviewed: March-02-2009Track Listing: 01. Breathe Love In 3:2202. Back To Country 3.4203. I'm Sorry 4:0304. Next To You 3:19 05. Giddy Up 3:0106. Happily Ever After 4:2407. Lee Ann 3:1408. B.A.M. 2:3209. I Wanna Fall 4:1610. Just Someone 3:1911. I Do 3:58On first encounter with Paul Street's winningly under-stated debut Streetwise, you might be forgiven for thinking that the elegant country/pop crossover hails from New Jersey rather than Nashville, such is the light, loving, chilled (in the relaxed sense of the word), sunny, serene, softly swooning, cosseting warmth of all that seems to be on offer. And, though Country Music fans have recently lamented the fact that their favorite genre has become a synthesis of rock and pop rather than roots country and western, Street manages to intertwine a touch of understated pop and chart feel to some of these songs while staying true to his roots. Indeed, Street is a deft singer-songwriter who for the most part combines clever lyrics with catchy,hummable melodies.Certainly, Street focuses most of the theme to this release on happier times, of love and fulfillment, but on songs like "I'm Sorry" , which sort of feels like a really good Glenn Frey song, and "Just Someone" and "Happily Ever After", Street demonstrates a painful, wistful nostalgia, a disenchantment with the all too quixotic here and now, and rapidly fraying threads of longing, of uneasy displacement, and of unsettling isolation. Suddenly Streetwise merits an altogether tougher, chewier and mature evaluation. What is especially likable is that somehow Street, thanks in no small measure to the engaging jangling juxtaposition of lovelorn lyrics and sprightly, sweetly mellow music, makes the sadness of these songs seem wholly palatable. Street's acute eye for the detail of lovelorn emotion is matched by a well-proportioned sense of scale. And while the easy-going lyricism of it all may evoke the gentleness of country & western music, there are enough deftly executed attention-grabbing hooks that hint at a keen pop sensibility lurking in the background. That being said, one listen to the wonderfully twangy "Back To Country" will convince the listener that Street is acutely aware of his roots and damned proud, too.