Originally hailing from Northern California and a semi-professional tennis player to boot, Jonathan Cavier has impressed critics and audiences alike since his solo debut Premier and shows no signs of slowing down with his latest release, a remixing and significant reworking of his 2017 sophomore studio release Blue Room.
Jonathan Cavier enlists the talents of engineer Nico Essig for the remix and a full remaster, but goes further than that. Essig oversees Cavier’s reinvention of numerous vocal tracks, the addition of previously unreleased material, and restructuring the album’s aural qualities in such a way that it takes on a wholly different character without ever venturing too far afield of the guiding impulse behind Cavier’s conception for the album. The result is a spectacular success. He brings new material in that fits in well with the original track listing and explodes the possibilities that the album’s exceptional original version now seems to only have been hinting at.
It gets off to a fast start with the title track “Blue Room”. This is sleek, radio-friendly rock that eschews crunch in favor of polish, but nonetheless packs a powerful punch. Electric guitar plays an important role in the musical makeup of this release and its crucial role is rarely so emphasized as it is on this particular track; the lead playing is especially good. Cavier steps back some from that approach, however, on the second track “When You Come Around”. This is more easy listening in its approach, reliant on tasteful percussion and acoustic instrumentation, complete with some light keyboards. He gives the audience an inspired vocal with this one. The trend away from electric guitar heroics continues with much of “Hollywood”, but it reemerges during the song’s second half with a fiery sense of purpose and it results in the best lead playing on Blue Room to this point.
There’s no real lead guitar pyrotechnics with the song “Phoenix” and that’s just as well because it would undoubtedly distract us from the strong verses and surging chorus. The first of Cavier’s two additions to the album, “Everything in Our Dreams”, has a brisk pace and a light touch with electric guitar darting deep in the mix until it comes out more in full near the song’s end. Jonathan Cavier delivers an especially passionate vocal for this tune. There’s some unexpected piano in the song “Right Place” and a serious air surrounds this track that isn’t heard on the earlier mid-tempo numbers.
His commercial side comes out once again with the song “Somebody Like You” and the orchestral qualities, reflected in how the keyboards and acoustic guitars lace together with atmospheric electric touches laid over top, set it apart from similar cuts on Blue Room. The second of the album’s two new tracks is its new finale and “Thank You Letter” lands with considerable impact thanks to its rock guitar muscle, but retains Cavier’s customary attentiveness to melody. This remix of “Blue Room” is rare in that it compels listeners familiar with the original to completely re-evaluate the release and there’s little question that it’s a spectacular success.
Find more at http://caviermusic.com/
-Shannon Cowden
