It seems as if every singer-songwriter with "weird" characteristics gets compared to the greats such as Syd Barrett, or even the under-the-radar greats such as Chris Knox. Those comparisons won't be going away anytime soon for Cambridge, UK singer-songwriter the Doozer, though he's abandoned his solo setup and recorded Keep it Together with 11 other musicians. The style of his fourth album is actually far removed from Knox and Barrett. In its grab-bag-orchestra instrumentation and library-quiet charm, the Doozer's songs are more in the realm of Glaswegian twee. Considering the experimental, homespun vibe of the three albums that came before it, Keep it Together's colorful arrangements give it the kind of vibrancy and pop-friendliness his past work was lacking.
Opener "Burning Bright" shows the newly assembled band putting its best foot forward. Leaning on a sturdy vocal melody, the track goes a long way on a simple chord progression, scattered lyrics suggesting new beginnings, and a buoyant string section. On Keep it Together as a whole, the instruments come together surprisingly well for an artist normally used to a vastly more minimal setup. The songs are often lush and ornate, and for any lover of unconventional instrumentation, there are a few genuine surprises. (Sitar! A tuba reportedly bought from the Salvation Army!) Once the novelty of the added bells and whistles wears off, however, all you have is a pretty-but-boring pop album.
Aside from "Burning Bright" and ballad "The Island", the other songs barely deviate from the same plodding tempo, making the album's 41 minutes seemingly last hours longer. There's rarely a surge in energy or even a mild outburst: The guitars are strummed politely, and the drums are played with brushes. Even the aforementioned tuba loses its luster about halfway through "Jobsworth". In graduating from a cast of one to a cast of a dozen, the Doozer not only jettisoned the more challenging aspects of his past albums, he also got rid of what made them interesting.
This could be forgiven if he were a more compelling songwriter, but the added to clarity has made his lyrics unbearable to listen to. In trying to sound a little more poignant than your average songwriter with nothing to say, Keep it Together has choruses built on dull motivation ("Fold Up Chair"), simple math ("The Island"), and elementary-school ecology ("Lowest Point"). Half-baked imagery peppers each of its songs: A man carrying a milk jug, a rabbit scurrying around a hutch. Even if finding poignancy in the mundane was the Doozer's task, there are no remarks on why the characters in his songs do what they do; they just do them and are off to the next part of their incredibly average day.
There's a sense of mystery that surrounds the Doozer. Because there's almost no information about his personal life, all we have to go on is his pseudonym and the music he's released. Considering the intrigue of his past work, Keep it Together makes a good case for why certain people choose to lead enigmatic lifestyles: Sometimes there's very little going on underneath the surface.
