Chris Garneau @ Mercury Lounge: Careless Whispers

For the past few weeks, Chris Garneau's debut LP, Music For Tourists, has seen some heavy rotation on my iPod (evident by my initial post on the album here). The record is whimsical, sensual, morose, and sanguine all the same, throughout its fourteen tracks. While at first I was eager to compare Chris to 'a male Regina Spektor', after witnessing his live show last night at Mercury Lounge, I'm much more keen to describe his sound as a rare hybrid of Cat Power's The Greatest, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens' Seven Swans, Jason Lytle (a la Grandaddy fame), The Johnsons (minus Antony), Jeff Buckley, with a tinge of my personal favorite guilty pleasure: piano-heavy Britpop.

During the course of Chris's (all too brief) 35-minute set, his undulating falsetto was showcased beautifully, as was his accompanying band highlighted by two graceful cellists and his multi-instrumentalist drummer. When Chris wasn't belting, his vocal was reduced to a near-whisper for nearly half the other songs in the set. Here's hoping his next visit to NYC includes a stop at the super-intimate Rockwood Music Hall, where his gentle voice could shine even brighter.

Chris will be touring all over the States through mid-June. Check out those dates here on his official site.

MP3: Chris Garneau - Blue Suede Shoes