Chris Cohen : Paint A Room

Chris Cohen is one of those musicians/songwriters that seems to ride a completely different wavelength than the rest of the world. As a collaborator he’s worked with everyone from Deerhoof to Ariel Pink to Cass McCombs to Weyes Blood. But as a solo artist is where his magic truly lies.

His solo work feels aged and vintage, bringing to mind the psychedelic pop of artists like Arthur Lee’s Love and Donovan, but with an almost baroque quality. It’s all very sepia-toned with an almost haunted feel to it. A man alone in his apartment recording exquisite pop works that sound like Brill Building-level songwriting, but with the vibe of someone that has a heavy head and heart.

Chris Cohen has released three perfect solo LPs since 2012; Overgrown Path(2012), As If Apart(2016), and Chris Cohen(2019), each adding a hint of higher fidelity each time out. All written, recorded, and performed by Cohen himself, and ornamented with guitars, keys, piano, drums, and laid out perfectly. His sleepy vocals only adding to the dream-like quality of the records.

His latest is Paint A Room, an album layered beautifully with the usual instrumentation. But this time around he adds percussion touches and sitar, giving Paint A Room an almost otherworldly feel. The sepia-pop feel is still there, but with touches of jazz and even avante pop for good measure. It’s another stunning display of songwriting and musicianship.

At 10 songs under 30 minutes Paint A Room rolls by quickly, begging for repeated listens. “Damage” opens on horns and tasteful guitar touches, bringing jazz and soft rock together in a way that is surprising and thoughtful. Title track “Paint A Room” has an early 70s AM quality to it; quiet, reflective, and brings to mind everyone from Burt Bacharach to John Sebastian to Nick Drake. It’s evocative of another time in popular music when radio music could be thoughtful, introspective, and personal.

“Cobb Estate” brings to mind touches of 80s bands like Talk Talk and The Motels, while “Laughing” opens on Cohen singing through some octave generator before the song falls into an almost early 80s jazz groove. “Physical Address” has a Bossa Nova rhythmic trip, and album closer “Randy’s Chimes” ends things on a jazz-inflected beat and ghost-like atmospherics.

I suppose Chris Cohen could fall into a similar category as artists like Ariel Pink and Mac Demarco; artists that play in the world of aged(moldy) pop sensibilities that border on outsider art. But where those artists sometimes feel too ironic for their own good, Chris Cohen seems genuine in his love for pop melodies and gentle 70s pop music. Paint A Room keeps his streak going to stunning effect.