Those Calendar Girls Ain’t got Nothing on Me

On her 2003 album Coverage, Mandy Moore covered plenty of songs from the seventies-singer songwriter era like Todd Rundgren, Cat Stevens, and Carly Simon which could explain why her latest album Amanda Leigh sounds like it was recorded during that era. And not to discredit her adult pop of her last album, the decent Wild Hope, but the music on Amanda Leigh is better for it.

Songs like Merrimack River and Song About Home float along and could be a great soundtrack if you are interested in a mellow summer lounging on a park bench. I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week is a clap along that is much more fun than anything on Wild Hope (although I wonder what her newly husband thinks about the song being released right after they got married). Nothing Everything follows that trend but is more adventurous with Moore unleashing for one of the few times on the album while everyone in the studio just seems to have fun the longer the song goes on.

Of all of the songs, the one that could have fit best in the seventies is Pocket Philosopher which bounces along with its piano intro, some well placed flutes, and cutesy delivery to the point it borders on a song from a musical. There are a few hiccups along the way; Fern Dell just doesn’t come together as well as other songs on the album. While Everblue borders on smaltzy. Also at thirty-seven minutes, the album seems a little short. But for that half hour, everything can just fade away while watch the summer go by slowly.

Song to Download – Pocket Philosopher

Amanda Leigh gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.