The Nashville Feed

Photo by Carie Thompson

The new album from Chip Greene (MySpace), "Exactly and Approximately," is aptly named.

As soon as I thought I knew approximately where a song was going to go, it didn't exactly go there. For instance, The Art of Abandon was taking a nice dark dive down into a serious spiral, when suddenly it got caught on a smooth net made of a softening beat and some sing song repetitions that pulled it back up - but not all the way. It still stayed haunting, but the melody wouldn't let it cross into hopelessness.

The whole album works much like this. I had to listen to it a few times to figure out what I liked about it. It reminds me of the best parts of some late 90's pop and rock all rolled into one glorious album. At times the melodies are tender, thoughtful, deep, introspective - and at times it's pop to the core or racing along as fast as a good old rock song.

Chip has smooth, sometimes haunting vocals that waft tenderly but firmly over and around his melodies. They do a good job of bringing his stories into union with the music. Every song tells a story, and even if it's not easy to figure out exactly what they all mean, they are still easy to listen to.

The album is well-produced, and I'm eager to see a live performance. The vocals have lots of nice effects, but I can still catch a hint of the passion under there somewhere, and I'd like to watch it live.

The electronic goodies on this record are just icing on the cake. They add so much fun and even some substance to the solid framework that has already been laid down by some exacting songwriting.

Overall, "Exactly and Approximately" is a carefully written and blended album that resists a genre label. I've heard comparisons to Coldplay, but I don't think that's quite right. Chip brings his own unique flavor to the music and presents the listener with songs worth listening to again and again.

You purchase Exactly and Approximately along with previous albums in almost every way via his website: ChipGreene.com

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