Review of Jesse Malin's CD "The Heat"

Jesse Malin: The Heat

Seemingly bursting out of nowhere from Queens, New York last year with debut 'The Fine Art Of Self Destruction' Jesse Malin won over a legion of fans with his punk-inspired yet, gentle, melodic and lyrically strong songs in the classic songwriter mould. Amongst those won over were the ones lured in by Ryan Adams involvement with the album, Malin's heroes Joe Strummer and Bruce Springsteen and those who already knew about his talent from his days in punk rockers D Generation.

Almost two decades of slugging it out in punk acts has provided a strong grounding for Malin and whilst he retains the passion and energy of those early days he has found his niche with carefully crafted songs that either come straight from the heart or he manages to convince you that they do. Much like The Replacements' Paul Westerberg, Malin has blossomed and matured with age, intertwining the delicate with the vitriolic but always with passionate and insightful lyrics.

'The Heat' retains the same spirit as TFAOSD without being a remake of the same album. A year on the road has provided new experiences for Malin to write about; "The sun goes down over Hyde Park, the concierge is tending bar, meanwhile back across the pond, all my fiends are dads and moms", the energetic 'Hotel Columbia' is a perfect companion for the summer, hitting the sing-along chorus early and containing a fine post chorus bridge and middle 8.

Malin's voice has the ability to sound decidedly downbeat about everything, yet when paired with the sweet strumming of acoustic guitar, the bright rise and fall of a chorus laden guitar line or fragile piano it becomes wonderfully uplifting. There's a good balance of tempo throughout the album; from the rumbling drums of 'Silver Manhattan' or the delightful 'Basement Home' to the driving beats of 'Scars of Love', complete with a fine lead guitar motif, and the fast paced wording of opener 'Mona Lisa'.

Like Springsteen, Malin has the ability to characterise people in depth using only a couple of lines, such as in 'Swinging Man', "We never had a baby, but she got more tattoos". 'Arrested' is perhaps the standout track, it's brooding opening exploding into a powerful thunderball of a tune; "She beats the kid, he plays the drums". It's a fine use of imagery and it contrasts nicely with the blunt directness of later line, "The undercover makes the bust, but not before he gets a touch".

'The Heat' further establishes Jesse Malin as fine songwriter in the mould of the aforementioned heroes as well as the likes of Elvis Costello and Billy Joel and with more material like this he's not far from joining them as one of rock's classic songwriters.

• www.jessemalin.com

Find related articles: fine art of self destruction, punk acts, punk rockers, paul westerberg, hotel columbia.