David Mead - Wherever You Are EP review

David Mead – Wherever You Are EP (2005, Eleven Thirty Records)


David Mead’s got a new EP already, after releasing the full length Indiana last year. If you don’t already have Indiana, or any David Mead for that matter, now is the time to catch up. I started with his first album The Luxury of Time, which is an overlooked pop gem.

Mead is making great radio hits at a time when great radio hits aren’t what’s getting played on the radio. We’re talking about meaningful straightforward songs, often romantic, great singing voice. I keep waiting for someone else to pick up on David Mead, but I think that perhaps he’s a little too sentimental for the indie crowd that listens to the sort of music I listen to.

I mean, listen to the first three tracks on this EP and tell me that either of those wouldn’t fit in just fine on the radio on your way to work. Even if it’s not music you love, you wouldn’t turn the dial, right? And then there’s a dreamy quiet song like “Astronaut” which is my favorite kind of David Mead song, and the fun little ditty of “How Much” as Mead sings “you don’t know how much I’m going to miss you.”

You can tell that Mead is writing music that’s autobiographical without being too on-the-nose, and that sense of honesty is what keeps his music from feeling too simplistic or forced like so much popular music written about relationships. He’s one of the best pop songwriters out there, and people need to start paying attention!