Contemporary pop with a singer-songwriter feel

Though based in Nashville, a product of a Music City’s Belmont University, and a co-writer of Love and Theft’s pop-country hit single “Runaway,” Rob Blackledge isn’t a country music artist. The success of “Runaway,” with its strummed acoustic guitars and America-styled vocal harmonies, gives a clue to the singer-songwriter milieu from which his original work stems. You could fit him into a broad category with contemporaries like Daniel Powter and James Blunt, but Blackledge’s southern roots make his music more soulful, and there are jazz tinges that lean towards the funky pop of Ben Folds. The piano-based opener, for example, starts with a chugging, old-timey sound that recalls Gilbert O’Sullivan before blossoming into full-fidelity and a horn chart.

Blackledge sings soaring power ballads, McCartneyesque pop songs, acoustic blues, and summery vocal pop. He includes several love songs, but also regrets lost romance, questions his emotional availability, and laments the psychic toll of touring. The album closes with Blackledge looking outward and calling for personal social action to make “Our World” a better place. The song’s labored tempo complements the wearied view of a world whose mess has no simple solution. Producer Jeff Coplan mixes lush pop and rock instrumentation with strings and deft hints of electronica that add a contemporary touch. Blackledge’s songwriting mostly sticks to well-thumbed topics, but he breaks out on a few songs and sings with passion throughout. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Should Have Known Better
Rob Blackledge’s Home Page
Rob Blackledge’s MySpace Page