Breathe

Album Review

The tree shaped like a guitar in the moonlight sets the mood for Adam Mugavero's debut, Breathe. The album kicks with "History," a quiet, psychedelic folk song whose production immediately draws attention to itself. There's plenty of reverb on Mugavero's vocals, and the stripped arrangement of acoustic guitar, strings, and piano fits the slightly left-of-center lyric. "Air," on the other hand, expands toward the baroque, creating a mixture that Bach — had he lived in Greenwich Village and been influenced by Dylan — probably would've concocted. Of course Bach, imagining himself as the air, probably would've found something more profound to comment on besides touching a girl's breast. The production expands to full-fledged pop on the choruses of "Already Miss You." Depending on the listener, these songs might be described as intriguing or weird. The brightness of Mugavero's vocals will be too much for some listeners, with the larger-than-life effect wearing thin on a song like "Late Night Conversation." Even when the vocal rendering is more subdued on a song like "Have Mercy," the multi-tracked mix finally reaches ethereal overload. Mugavero has created an interesting potpourri of folk-pop-psychedelia on Breathe, but it's a potpourri than grows overly poignant as the album progresses. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi