Michael Franks “Blue Pacific”

This album is a classy enterprise, and if feels very contemporary, as well as timeless. But what do those things mean—nothing to me, really, since I’m so far removed from any timelines when it comes to music, or any other kind of culture, I guess. But one thing I’ve really liked about Michael Franks—at least for the dozen or so records I’ve heard—is it doesn’t matter what year the record came out—they all sound like him, first of all. Not that they are all the same, or there isn’t a progression (I’m sure there is, of course). Also, all of them I’ve heard are really good. I would never have been able to guess what the year is of this record is—by the cover, the art, the production, or the songs—it’s 1990—and that means nothing. To me, 1990 is like yesterday, and I won’t normally go near an unknown record from that year. To a younger person, that probably seems like ancient history. The cover is very design-y, looks like jazz, very adult, minimal, bold lettering, and a huge blue filtered photo of Michael Franks in profile listening to a shell. It’s a very cool photo. The back contains complete, extensive credits, and there are a lot of them. Lots of thanks to a lot of people—and you get the sense that he’s a gracious dude. He’d probably thank me for listening to this if he was here right now. One thing that doesn’t require a lot of ink is the composition credits—all songs by Michael Franks. Besides his smooth, cool singing voice, and his putting all these musicians and producers together, his strength is his songwriting. Great songs!

I wouldn’t mind, at all, a lyric sheet, but there’s not one here—because he also writes intriguing, sometimes clever, sometimes funny, lyrics. One thing with him, though, is because the production and sound is so clean, and his voice is so clear, even someone who’s listening-ly challenged, like I am, can make out most of the lyrics. I’m not going to go song by song, or point out themes or paraphrase lyrics, but rather, I’m going to account for my mood as I listen through both sides. It’s starts out with a funky portrait of some lovers… nice. Then an island feeling—which is a lot of this record—which you’d guess by the title and cover. This is a very beautiful chorus, this one! Besides romantic love and seashore scenery, there’s also a visual art appreciation theme here and there—and a tiny note at bottom mentions a few of the songs are from a musical (by Franks) about Paul Gauguin (including one called “Vincent’s Ear”—which is as weird as you’d expect, but still lovely). Some of this is making me think of the more jazzy songs on the last two Steely Dan records, and indeed Walter Becker produced a couple of these songs. (Jeff Lorber and Tommy LiPuma, also producers.) This is a record I’ll leave sitting out—and I might put it on at any time (which goes for most Michael Franks records). And I kind of hate to admit it, but this is one of those records that makes me wish I had a date over once in a while, red wine, all of that—though I’d need to clean the place. Well, no reason I couldn’t have a listening date. Or maybe I should buy that houseboat I saw for sale near Rockaway Beach—I know, wrong ocean, but with the right music, any large body of water will do.

10.25.24