Closer Than They Appear
Self-Released, 2022
8/10
Listen to Closer Than They Appear
An artist who has received much praise for his award-winning arts journal Esopus, Tod Lippy brings his esteemed vision to a handful of diverse covers here, where he takes help from Jeff Lipstein on drums and percussion.
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” starts the listen with thumping drums and much attention to mood in the dense versus soft moments of the Tom Petty classic, and “Point Of Disgust” follows with a rare intimacy that’s mysterious and stirring and certainly does justice to Low, the Minnesota heroes who penned it.
Further on, the Atlanta Rhythm Section’s “So Into You’ flows with warm keys and a mesmerizing delivery, while “Sick Of Food” focuses much on the emotive piano playing, where Lippy’s expressive delivery suites the American Music Club original.
Closer to the end, “Hey Goodbye” finds itself in the club with its buzzing and synth fueled dance-rock, and of the 2 bonus tracks, “Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams”, the Roy Merchant Remix, is quite adventurous with plenty of percussive sounds and electro-pop nods that also welcomes piano and soft singing.
A collection of well done interpretations, Lippy puts a very distinct spin on songs he loves, and you, too, will likely be fond of them after hearing them fleshed out like this.
Travels well with: Ewan MacFarlane- Always Everlong; Tod Lippy- Yearbook