Ron Sexsmith

Many people first heard of this record when Elvis Costello appeared with it on the cover of Mojo, announcing the newest member of the Important Songwriter club. Costello's endorsement was well deserved; the Canadian singer and songwriter hit gold with his major label debut. Artfully written songs like "Summer Blowin' Town," "Lebanon, Tennessee" and "Words We Never Use" had few peers in the angsty '90s. The best stuff here comes when Sexsmith's plaintive vibrato finds a match with his keen wordplay. Mitchell Froom's unvarnished production makes Sexsmith's first one of his best.

Ron Sexsmith's impressive debut is the perfect disc to play just after you've been dumped
and the only activity worth contemplating -- besides weeping uncontrollably -- is devouring
an entire pint of chocoate Haagen-Daaz ice cream. Like fellow heartbreak kid Jackson
Browne, Sexsmith sings his wishful and wistful lyrics in a reedy voice rapt with despair. But
the album hardly drowns in a tarpit of doom -- Sexsmith's tunes are expertly and... More >