Temporary Hero: Tusk (re-imagined)

[michelej1]

On the Culture Front: Music from the Underground, Part Five
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03/18/2016 12:43 pm ET | Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-...b_9499222.html

I love cross-genre explorations and their ability to make you rethink a song, an album and even artist’s entire output. When Miles Davis took on Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” in the last few years of his life, he unearthed a deep melancholy that turned a hollow sound into one of haunting resonance. Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek conversely brought out the whimsy of Carl Orff’s weighty battle cry in his synthesizer-infused eighties rendition of “Carmina Burana.” So I was excited when I heard that up-and-coming indie artist Temporary Hero was tackling Fleetwood Mac’s experimental album “Tusk” after interpreting Chet Baker. My excitement waned as I listened to the album though and heard the emotion draining from the songs. What Stevie Nicks expressed with effortless warmth is lost in Temporary Hero’s slick R&B inflected covers that substitute cool for substance. I don’t want to be too harsh because the idea is admirable but its execution falls flat. Whether it’s the flat croons of Jonah Bell or the toothless arrangements which do little more than occupy space, it’s difficult to listen to more than a track or two at a time without succumbing to fatigue.