★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
I am reasonably sure that 99%, if not the entirety, of Chris Isaacs' oeuvre can be summed up in a single sentence: "I messed up my love life and now I bitterly regret it." His brand of laid back folk-soul rock doesn’t vary much. Brushes hitting the drums. That thick sound of the blue guitar. And of course that honeyed voice, that climbs to a falsetto wail of despair or comes down to an eerie haunted whisper. Phrases such as "I am still crying," "Sorry I made you cry," and "I’m thinking of you / I really love you" abound in his lyrics. It's all very routine, but well-made. He covers "Solitary Man," which is totally in his wheelhouse; sadly, "5:15" did not turn out to be the Who cover I hoped it would be. Favorite tracks: "San Francisco Days," "Beautiful Homes," "Lonely With a Broken Heart."
