By Richard Cromelin
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — The taller half of Steely Dan returns from a 13-year break from solo albums as a sort of hipster Dr. Seuss. In the title song, a protoplasmic feline form permeates Manhattan, casting an inexplicable but welcome spell of well-being on Gotham.
Less cartoon-like but similarly whimsical, “What I Do” finds the ghost of Ray Charles sharing his secrets of swing and seduction. Elsewhere Fagen cheerily faces down the Man in the Brite Nightgown — W.C. Fields’ sobriquet for the Grim Reaper.
Fagen’s focus on mortality isn’t always so lighthearted, and there are some more serious scenarios and character studies on the album (which is due in stores March 14). At his best he spins these tales with a mix of literary craft and jazzman’s cool, animating his narratives with vivid and colorful language.
The title cat is described as a “Rabelaisian puff of smoke.” Brother Ray’s wisdom includes this strategy: “Well you bring some church but you leave no doubt/ As to what kind of love you love to shout about.”
Not all the songs have that inspired mix of language and story line, but the album’s one real letdown is the familiarity of the music. Everything moves to firmly established Steely Dan signatures — the snappy, swinging beats, funky filigrees, woven horns, playful guitars, etc. While that sound still offers its customary pleasures, you wish that Fagen’s verbal ambition had been matched by an eagerness to push the musical envelope equally hard.
No comments yet.