Colin Hay
Topanga
Lazy Eye Records America / Compass Records
Former Men At Work frontman Colin Hay relocated to California from “Down Under,” but he retains the solid earnestness from his days as an MTV wunderkind. Today his music revolves around love and renewal and the joys and despairs of living in LA. His friendly voice rides smoothly over the simple yet effective backing band, sometimes sounding like a grownup rocker, other times like the boyish pop star we remember. Backing him up are the best of the West Coast studio musicians – a few get a brief “Thank You” on the album cover, but Mr. Hay is a solo artist who’s done with internal band disputes.
Mr. Hay has a wonderful voice, and it complements his generally positive and romantic lyrics. Warm guitar chords fill the gaps in his lyrics, giving the songs a feel of a duet even though there isn’t anyone else audible. This disc was first released in 1994, and like all good re-releases, they dug an extra track out of the vault; the slow, Celtic-influenced “Spenser the Rover.” It’s a nice wrapup to an album of more energetic songs, leaving you comfortably warm, like a nicely chilled glass of a decent Napa chardonnay.
Compass: http://www.compassrecords.com
