Jeff Bridges
by Dan MacIntosh
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Without question, T-Bone Burnett is the master when it comes to producing Americana music. So much so, in fact, record companies likely call out for him, O brother, where art thou?' whenever it's time to match any roots-y songwriter with the best producer in town. Even so, producers are oftentimes limited by the material they're asked to work with. Jeff The Dude' Bridges is a passable singer, and was more than capable as a country singer in the award winning film, Crazy Heart. However, when called upon to sing for himself with this self-titled album which is actually the second full-length recorded project released under his name his performance leaves a little to be desired.
It's not as though this 10-song disc lacks quality songs, as Greg Brown, Stephen Bruton and Burnett all contributed to penning the tunes. It's just that Bridges singing is not charismatic. He's low key, nearly to the point of invisibility. Such a rumbling, deep voice is all well and good when it's also matched to his big screen movie star face. By itself, though, it's just an average vocal instrument. He can carry the tunes; he just can't sell them.
Generally, these songs are light philosophical fare. Love is held up as the ultimate virtue, for example, in both What a Little Love Can Do and Everything but Love. Listeners will no doubt agree with him in principle, but they won't lock ears on the man's voice the way they attach their eyes to this film icon whenever he's acting a scene.
At its worst, as on Either Way, the music simply drags like too much cold medicine. Then when the drug wears off, the illness remains.
This is not bad music, at least not in a Nickelback painful way. It's just not an album that will inspire you to play it again and again. At best, it's merely a celebrity curiosity.
Jeff Bridges
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