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Adem
Love and Other Planets
(Domino)
First Appeared in
The Music Box, January 2007, Volume 14, #1
Written by John Metzger
Adem, it seems, loves a good concept album, especially one that explores the
dimly lit, emotional passageways that wind through the human heart. While his
debut Homesongs was an introspective exploration of domestic life, his
latest outing Love and Other Planets finds him searching for answers
among the stars. "If we received a warning call, would we change at all?" he
asks ambitiously on the opening track before imagining that he is a being from
another planet that has come into contact with Earth long after its inhabitants
have destroyed themselves. For the remainder of the set, Adem continues to scour
the heavens for signs of life as well as for a sense of belonging that can save
him from his own isolated existence. Shifting from the hymn-like presence of the
title track to the star-dappled glitter of You and Moon, the music he
concocts to support his words is suitably fragile, hushed, and filled with
ponderous sorrow. The problem, however, is that the 12 tracks on Love and
Other Planets are nothing more than variations upon a single concept, and
while the results frequently are quite lovely, they also never move beyond the
refrains that Adem borrows from Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. As the outing
progresses, the material increasingly begins to sound rather formulaic, and
instead of feeling warm and intimate, the songs wind up exuding an air of cold
insularity. Although Adem attempts to dress up his compositions in an array of
electronic textures, his melodies inevitably become lost within the bubbles and
pops of his own personal deep space. Consequently, it’s only when he resists the
urge to muddy the waters of his quiet, lonely, folk-imbued ruminations that the
potency of his compositions is fully revealed. 
Love and Other Planets is available from
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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