Album Review

Aviv Geffen – Mr Down & Mrs High

• 27th Apr 2011

Grandaddy skirting vocals cushioned by some swooning female backing, twists together with a spindling guitar led accompaniment, opening out this folk and pop fusing EP, through the title track. Geffen’s vocals possess enough elasticity to pull off the yearning build and then chilling out for the catchy chorus. It’s sincere, yet not too grating.

‘Highway’, is a stepping key-led indie touching sojourn, as Geffen’s vocals hover and soar to give off emotion and heart. Toe-tapping percussion touches rub in some needy rhythm, although the track does have a slight stale, one dimensional feel. The slow turning, soulful femme backing led ballad, ‘Jerusalem’ is a stern communication of bemusement at the modern world. This evergreen muso, whose debut album was released in 1991, tops off this searching and catchy EP, with a Finn Brothers mirroring, bounding effort, ‘When Summer Comes’. It’s a colourful pop pearl to be proud of and it underlines Geffen’s ever present enthusiasm for song-crafting. There’s worldly warmth on display that many artists of this ilk fail to capture and often sound false a result.

Geffen continues to ply his trade oblivious to the current fads and trends. This approach could lead to another colourful and ranging twenty years of releasing honest and heartfelt music.

Rating: 3.5/5