Dan Bern
Breathe
(Messenger)
First Appeared in The Music Box, September 2006, Volume 13, #9
Written by John Metzger
It’s not like Dan Bern to craft an album that feels half-baked, but his
latest endeavor Breathe never coalesces in quite the same manner as his
other recent gems Fleeting Days and New American Language. Though
the outing begins and ends in a promising fashion, its middle section not only
suffers from a lack of urgency, but it also loses sight of Bern’s narrative
thread. Tongue-Tied, for example, never succeeds in transcending its
appropriations from John Lennon’s Real Love, and the Elvis Costello-ish
Rain sounds like little more than infectious filler. Granted, throughout
his career, Bern’s music always has been his weakness, and although he is
capable of concocting sturdy melodic refrains, they frequently don’t do anything
other than to echo the work of Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello, two artists with
whom he shares a less-than-desirable singing voice. Typically, though, he’s
turned his deficiencies into strengths by carefully dismantling the arrangements
of his influences’ material and using the parts to support his own sharply
worded, stream of consciousness lyrics. Not surprisingly, all four of Breathe’s
highlights — Trudy, Past Belief, Feel Like a Man, and the
title track — serve as prime examples of his capacity as a songwriter. On each,
Bern is unapologetic about taking what he needs from Dylan’s repertoire, and
within the compositions, he effectively skewers the corrosive nature of western
society’s materialistic culture, even as he searches for something that is more
meaningful to satisfy the emptiness in his soul. If the rest of Breathe
was as poignant and focused, it might have stood as Bern’s finest effort to
date. Instead, its awkward execution significantly tempers the forward momentum
of Breathe’s early moments, making it a frustratingly uneven excursion
that vacillates between being wholly essential and pleasantly irrelevant. 
Of Further Interest...
Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts...Now
Loudon Wainwright III - Social Studies
Breathe is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box