Brett Dennen

Even though Brett Dennen's folk rock is the universally amiable kind you bring home to mom and dad, the rebellious spirit under the surface of his third LP reveals a shrewdly talented songwriter with more smarts than the coffee-shop rockers next to whom he gets filed. He'll occasionally tread into the politically acute turf that punched up So Much More, but it's Dennen's light touch on silly love songs like "Closer to You" and "When She's Gone" that really connects.

Brett Dennen was a hippie camp counselor before he became a John Mayer-approved
troubadour on 2006's So Much More. So brace yourself for "Closer to You," where he admits
to "wearing nothing but my birthday suit." That unsettling mental image aside, Dennen's
third disc suggests he may soon give Dave Matthews a run for his tour grosses. "Make You
Crazy" is a jubilant rave-up with Femi Kuti on vocals, while the quiet ballad "So Fa... More >