It seems like we already take Mike Fredrickson for granted. Every year or two he releases an album of catchy gems: another collection of seemingly throwaway songs that grasp the listener with hooks gathered from ’60s pop to roots rock and lilting sambas.
Yet, search beneath that veneer and there is something complex going on. Multi-instrumentalist Fredrickson’s songs play out like mini three-act dramas. Once again working with producer John Sieger, After It’s Over delivers 14 songs that thrust and parry across genres, held together by the fabric of Fredrickson’s songwriting and the musicianship of drummer John Carr, keyboardist Bob Jennings and Sieger’s guitar work.
His latest CD is another wealth of riches. The title cut’s Latin-tinged melody adds trombone and trumpet for character. “You’ve Been Making Eyes” lifts a sauntering vocal hook from some long-gone Philly soul B-side. The record’s driving tour-de-force, “Goodbye Old Man,” cites “a legacy of emptiness” as an adult examines the complicated relationship with the father who abandoned him years before.
In 2013 he released a compilation titled mf Shuffle, and may the human jukebox enjoy a long career. With the recent performances with his long-dormant band The Mosleys, Fredrickson and his compadres may very well return to test the waters where they once reigned as a top local band.
