It takes a great, special talent to keep people happy, not to mention a lot of work and a bit of bending of the truth. Pop stars of all sorts find that our sooner or later. Some never manage to come back from the shock of finding out that even the most charmed kind of life can be unjust.
Being a pop star means that being a crowd-pleaser is an obligation, not a character flaw. But what does the audience want to hear? When should they deliver what they’re most familiar with, and when should they accept the need for change? Pop stars and comedians have their work cut out for them. They must make audiences enjoy themselves in under three minutes. But audiences are so fickle…
Brian Halloran is a songwriter who has two interests he has to attend to when penning his songs. First, he needs to take care of the happiness of one person – himself. Secondly, he has to make sure that the audience is kept happy. These could be as many as everyone in the world. On the EP, “Overnumerousness,” the writer is taking special care of the latter, feeding them fine pop hooks and direct, ear-pleasing tunes.
Still, Halloran is a smart man. And people like this can’t help but worry about their work not being sophisticated enough. Take, for example, the album opener, “A.K.A.” There’s a pop melody designed for any era of FM radio, sure. But the lyrics allow the singer to drop salt in his own still-to-be-healed wounds.
“I Got Nothing For You” feels like the soundtrack to what could be a great, new Larry David show about dating in the modern world. “Hip Flask” allows the soulful singer Michelle Rescigno to list off all of the things that Hollaran would leave off of a dating profile. And “Linda, Honey, Listen,” with its tropical island vibe, proves that the songwriter doesn’t merely get his ideas from vintage records and books but YouTube comedy videos too.
Not that there aren’t enough nods to classic songwriters to require help from a chiropractor. Halloran’s biggest influence here is Elvis Costello, a man who is known to blend pop hits with brainy ideas, on occasion seamlessly. You can hear it on “Tongue and Groove” or album closer “The MacGuffin.”
Brian Halloran likes pop radio, and he’s not ashamed to say it. But he’s not shouting his love from the rooftops or getting ready to write any emails, either. He’s using that love as the basis for the album “Overnumerousness”, a record filled with good cheer, pop hooks and tributes to other great tunesmiths.
Social media links
