2.7/5
It was always going to be interesting to see what approach Lior took to his third record. Having already won over a big audience with his smooth blend of folk and pop, hopes were high that album number three would see him push his craft to the extent that the Shadow and Light puppet performances pushed his live show. Unfortunately however Tumbling Into The Dawn treads the middle ground too often, Lior seemingly torn between the urge to experiment and the security of a formula that has thus far sold him a lot of records.
The album opens in a curious manner. Shadow Man begins with a thirty second electric guitar riff that hints at new horizons, but then crams Jack Johnson pop, a Powderfinger chorus and a wailing hard rock outro into three and a half busy minutes. The lyrics are cute but the song feels too cut and pasted to really gel. It’s followed by the album’s strongest cut I Thought I Could Sing On My Own, a well-crafted song that’s all strings, groove and woohoos. It’s the ready-made single from this bunch of songs and its foot-tapping chorus is surely going to be a live favourite in the coming months.
The rest of the album trickles along pleasantly enough but fails to stick. There are decent tracks scattered throughout, current single Tumbling Into The Dawn, pop rocker Everybody’s Doing That and the nice-but-slightly-too-epic If I Lost Your Love, but nothing here sinks its claws in and demands to be listened to.
Driftwood is a prime example. It’s a pretty, well-sung track but like too many other songs on the release, has all the permanence of its title. They Don’t Know What’s Going On and Secret Garden are tepid despite good lyrical intentions and the album limps to a meek conclusion. As with the weaker moments on Autumn Flow and Corner of an Endless Road, these non-descript tracks will probably come to life more in a live setting, but here the studio versions fall flat.
Tumbling Into The Dawn is a decent album from a capable artist, but there’s little to encourage repeat listens. Lior has considerable talent but here it feels like he’s simply going through the motions. Here’s hoping next time he stretches himself further and releases an album that comes closer to realising his full potential.
Download the title track here from Inertia’s website
A couple of other reviews for you here…
The AU Review is quite stacatto in its dismissal of the album
The guys at Eleven Magazine enjoyed it a lot more.
