Moments and Memories

Album Review

Five years have passed between the release of Mike Farley's last album, Blue, in 2002 and Moments and Memories in 2007. In that time, Farley has relocated from Cleveland to Nashville and turned much of his attention professionally to his public relations firm, Michael J. Media, representing other developing musical artists rather than pursing his own career in the same field full-time. He has also engaged in songwriting sessions, but his own music has gone on the back burner. Moments and Memories might at first seem like an album on which he has picked up where he left off. After Blue, a pop/rock record, he repeated some of the same songs from that album on Acoustic EP, and he is still pretty much unplugged here, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar with only the augmentation of Josh Preston's background keyboard and electric guitar playing. Blue was devoted to lovelorn songs, and Moments and Memories leads off with "With You Gone," a song in a similar vein. But it soon becomes clear that this is not an album with a single theme; rather, it is a songwriter's collection of craftsman-like efforts on various subjects. Love is the main one, of course, but Farley is as likely to sing of unfettered romantic devotion ("All It Is," "Saturday Night Needs Sunday Morning," "You and Me") as he is to describe a coming breakup ("Gone," a remake of his old song "Say Goodbye"). And he delves into more philosophical fare as well as going in for social comment on "Picket Fence." The silent pauses between songs are longer than usual on this CD, suggesting that Farley wants each track to be considered in isolation, and that's appropriate for an effort that comes across as much as a songwriter's demo as a musical artist's next release.