Love Will Find You

Findlay Brown is not an artist who tries to hide his musical influences. Laced throughout Brown's new release Love Will Find You, listeners will find a litany of musical inspiration from Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Presley.

The album opens with what is probably its best overall track, which shares it's name with the album's title. "Love Will Find You" is a sprawling landscape of reverb and sixties pop that sounds as if it were recorded at Phil Spector's beloved Gold Star Studios during its heyday. Brown's use of distant stacked background vocals and ample horn and string sections give way to moments of quiet melodic abandon which give the listener an opportunity to sample Brown's own stellar vocal performance.

On "Everybody Needs Love," Brown is able to fully explore his vocal range with a performance reminiscent of Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely." Brown's ability to draw in the listener with soft vocal vibrato and infectious hooks would make Orbison proud. "That's Right" is a catchy, raucous rockabilly sojourn brimming with twang and gusto, as well as some intriguing chord changes and vocal harmonies in the hook. As the album progresses Brown continues to borrow progressively more from Orbison—almost to the point of mimicry—on tracks like "Teardrops in the Rain," and culminating in the album's swan song, "I Had a Dream."

In Brown's defense, if the only criticism I can think of is that he sounds too much like Orbison, that must mean that he has put together a pretty good collection of songs. Although Love Will Find You may not be making many people's list for the top ten albums of 2009, it is still a very enjoyable and rewarding listen, and is highly recommended for anyone who has a soft spot for infectious hooks, brilliant melodies and that world-famous wall of sound.

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