Dennis Ellsworth, singer/songwriter from Prince Edward Island has released his fifth album on Busted Flat Records entitled, Romantic As It Gets.
Ellsworth and his musicians (producer David Barbe, bass and percussion; Thayer Sarrano, piano and organ; Matt Stoessel, electric and pedal steel guitars and Seth Hendershot, drums) sail through the ten songs here barely breaking sweat on Ellsworth’s melodic numbers while his voice is warm and easy with an occasional resemblance to Neil Diamond’s vocals. The arrangements are tasteful; mid tempo numbers outweighed by sensitive ballads, the piano rippling in a stately fashion, guitars chiming just so and pedal steel adding some fine yearning. The problem is that the album is just too mannered and polite, the romance lacking bite aside from a few…
320 kbps | 82 MB UL | MC ** FLAC
…numbers. Fortunately these numbers do raise the bar quite significantly.
There are moments when Ellsworth approaches the lush romanticism of Richard Hawley, most evident here on “Stay True” and “Shines The Sun In Your Mind” although he lacks Hawley’s raw conviction, the element that allows him to wallow unashamedly in romantic pop. “Shines The Sun In Your Mind” is the better of the pair and is one of two stand out songs here. The other is the excellent salute to Billie Holiday on “Beauty Is Sad,” an evocative number that is tinged with both sorrow and joy. The chorus (When Billie sings Autumn in New York and it melts you /it makes you feel like you need more time or you’ll fall apart/ Ain’t it funny how beauty sometimes wrecks you/ There’s that rain again hammering in your heart) is timeless and beautifully sung by Ellsworth and it comes across like a long lost Brill Building classic.