Matt Costa's Unfamiliar Faces continues to demonstrate the facility with pop craft and disparate influences he displayed on his 2006 debut, Songs We Sing. One listen to Costa's work and it's obvious why Jack Johnson felt compelled to sign him to his Brushfire Records label, as he shares Johnson's fondness for direct, agreeable alternative pop. But Costa leans slightly more into the alternative side of that equation on Faces. He sounds just as comfortable working off a Brit-pop template as he does with incorporating bits of bands like the Smiths (especially on "Vienna") and straightforward, contemporary sounds a la Counting Crows, or the quieter moments in Dave Matthews's catalog. Songs like "Mr. Pitiful" and "Cigarette Eyes" show off convincing choral hooks, and his unadorned, relaxed singing style is flexible enough to give ballads like "Heart of Stone" a compelling, folksy melancholy. It isn't quite flexible enough, however, to handle the drama of something like "Bound," with its bluesy, Jeff Buckley-esque grandeur. But it's to Costa's credit that he tries to stretch himself and find the edges in his smooth, easily digestible songwriting instincts.
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Unfamiliar Faces - Matt Costa
