Search - Josh Fix :: Free At Last

Josh Fix s Free at Last (1650 Entertainment) thrums with the natural, fated energy of one guy doing what he was born to do. Each of the dozen broad, vibrant songs is exquisitely and painstakingly crafted, achieving a flawlessness that isn t forced. Free At Last isn t a self-indulgent exercise in writing saccharin, bouncy pop songs that revel in naive understandings of life s journey. In fact, Fix infuses his Queen, Ben Folds and Elton John-esque melodies with bitingly intelligent lyrics that characterize a man whose life has been no stranger to tragedy, struggle and the occasional oil rig. Ambitious and sprawling, the record is rooted in manic, bouncy piano rock compositions that conjure a polygamous union between ELO, Queen and Todd Rundgren. Fix again writes in the first person, lamenting a mundane 9-to-5 job hindering your life s purpose (Don t Call Me in the Morning) to recovering from a broken heart (Free At Last). He also creates compelling characters like Jethro (a singer whose voice both exposes and heals all wounds). Fix himself is responsible for the record s tastefully expansive production. Jaime Durr (Hyde Street Studio C) engineered, Paul Ebersold (Spacehog) mixed, and the incomparable Greg Calbi (John Lennon, Bob Dylan) mastered. And the label releasing the album, 1650 Entertainment, is owned by the children of legendary songwriter / producer / label chief Bert Berns. Cassandra and Brett Berns, floored by Fix s talent as a self-contained artist, carry forward their father s independent vision by bringing it from the same 1650 Broadway offices from which their dad first brought up Neil Diamond and Van Morrison. Free At Last is a startling statement from a charmingly reluctant and self-deprecating artist. Even calling yourself an artist is a little frou-frou sometimes, I think. It s like, please you play four chords on a guitar. You re not saving the world. Though he s not saving the world, he is saving audiences from more prosaic pop tunes and another egomaniac rock star...and he s saving himself from another desk job. Josh Fix might not be ready to call himself an artist, but he is Free At Last to let everyone hear his art.