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 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
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Fergus McCormick
I Don't Need You Now
Independent
"Darling the world doesn't work like that no more," cautions New Jersey native Fergus McCormick on the closing track of his new album I Don't Need You Now. It's a quiet, melancholic observation that, in spite of being directed outward, is probably as much for him as anyone else. McCormick's third effort and the follow up to 2005's terrific Jumping The Gun may be a wistful and thoughtful collection, but it's anything but depressing. On the contrary, it's a fourteen-song meditation about travel and heartbreak and saying goodbye and living a life where the people you love don't love you back the way you want. Falling somewhere between Jackson Browne and Tim Hardin, McCormick is as smooth as they come, his voice a moving confluence of weariness and desire. Much to recommend here: The gentle longing of "I Who Have Never Been With You," the dreamy folk of "If You Only Knew" and the rootsy stomp of "Mother Nature's Child," to name a few. Flanked by an accomplished band, including some players borrowed from Norah Jones (bassist Mike Davis and drummer Robert Di Pietro) and The Zombies (pianist Andy Hunter), McCormick sounds like a man who's seen it all. "Brown Eyes And Golden Hair" is a shimmering travelogue; "The Drifter" is a resplendent number about road fatigue and "Song For New Orleans" is lovely and moving. At heart McCormick is a romantic and even though on "The Drifter" he confesses, "I find it hard to keep moving on," these songs prove that it's what he does best.
--Alex Green
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