The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (And Other Frightening Tales... )

The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (And Other Frightening Tales... )

Though its title may sound grandiose, Jason Reeves’ 2007 debut album is actually a work of small moments rendered with an unaffected, vulnerable touch. The Iowa-born Reeves is an acoustic singer/songwriter in the classic mode, often bringing both James Taylor and John Mayer to mind. What makes him stand out is his utter believability. He catches the right note of head-over-heels infatuation in “Reaching” and “You In a Song” while “Entwined” manages to extend his tender emotions to humanity at large. Reeves is even more convincing when dealing with loss, as in “New Hampshire,” “Photographs & Memories,” and “The End.” Breaking the wistful mood here is “Gasoline,” a venomous tune sung with a measure of real anger. Reeves’ slightly foggy, ache-inflected delivery is matched by his sparse guitar playing and the subdued production of his album’s tracks. Ultimately, his greatest skill may be his pitch-perfect feel for the nuances of romance and if that doesn’t make these songs always magnificent, it does make them ring true.

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