City of Black & White

Mat Kearney's new album, "City of Black & White," is the follow-up album to 2006's "Nothing Left to Lose." "City of Black & White" is his third album and has a strong sound with warm melodies and lyrical themes of romantic endings, beginnings, and in-betweens. Mat Kearney has dropped his poetic raps and sings his way through this album. Guitars and piano melodies seem to invoke emotion into the lyrics, which fuel him and his album.

My favorite song on this album is "Closer to Love." It has a strong air in the strum of the guitar and the lonely three-note piano. The instruments aid the emotion of the lyrics. Kearney seems to continue this partnership in the songs, "On & On" and "Never Be Ready." Kearney also shows his ability to tell a story in his songs from a different angle. In the song "Annie," Kearney tells a story of a girl with a chance to get out of a bad situation instead of a girl already swallowed up by the negatives of life. His songs are not fairytales but real tales like in "New York to California." The song is about love's devotion and the fear of lost hovering over the couple. His title track, "City of Black & White," is a very poetic song. It is his play of colors in his lyrics that builds a good structure of harmony and timing in the music.

Kearney seemed to miss the deep poetics in some of his songs. "Lifeline" has a great tune, but the lines are broad and repetitive. In the song "Here We Go," he slows down the music to make it sound sad, but the lyrics are a mix of hope and pain. He talks about hope for a lost friendship or love to come back to him, but he knows the relationship will go "round and round again."

Much of the album sounds a lot like its predecessors, which isn't a bad thing. He has kept the sharp sound. The album is more mature with inspiring and truthful tales. The tempo through the album keeps a steady pace with the music and lyrics. The songs are all filled with creative hooks and ideas of lost, hope and retrieval. Kearney's voice is timeless and the pace is crisp. When "City of Black & White" is over, it is easy to replay.