Mobilize

1	See America 5:08
2	Humankind 3:09
3	Love's A Mystery 4:09
4	Sadness Soot 4:20
5	We All Get A Taste 3:54
6	Spring Released 3:15
7	Lazily Drowning 4:18
8	Like A Lover 4:31
9	Mobilize 4:07
10	Beautiful Dreamers 4:27
11	Sleepless Lake 2:50
12	April Chimes 2:46

Barnes & Noble

After four albums with the mesmerizing L. A. combo Grant Lee Buffalo, frontman Grant-Lee Phillips steps out on his own for Mobilize, an album of modest, acoustic-based symphonies of concentrated power. Lyrically, the disc finds Phillips in searching mode, as he travels across the country in "America" and questions his motives on "Humankind": "And the point of my life is what/What if it doesn't add up," he muses. Easing the journey are his casual melodies, which flow with grace and ease, and the cushiony, keyboard-filled instrumentation -- all played by Phillips -- behind his subtly emotive vocals and plaintive guitar strumming. Although the mood remains relatively subdued and meditative throughout, Phillips weaves in a potent glam-rock thread, evident in crunchy guitar leads on songs such as "We All Get a Taste" and his sweaty, Bowie-esque vocals on tracks like the shuffling "Spring Released." He's also got a flair for the dramatic -- what do you expect from the guy who plays the town bard on the youthful TV drama Gilmore Girls and has scored for both the big and small screen. This gift he shares on the title track's war tale and the storylike "Beautiful Dreamers." As did fellow Angeleno Aimee Mann on Bachelor No. 2, Phillips has made a quietly stunning, very personal, lushly melodic album that highlights his most valuable resource: his winning songs. Lydia Vanderloo

All Music Guide

Some records defy explanation and rise above any praise or criticism. They exist in a realm of their own creation and definition, undeserving of attempts to categorize or humanize their artistic achievement. Words cannot capture their essence, and probably should not even try. With Mobilize, Grant Lee Phillips has set forth such a work. Superficially speaking, it offers 12 magically brilliant pieces, each and every one able to stand alone, comparable to the finest moments of U2, David Gray, R.E.M., and Radiohead. Collectively, they comprise true art, pure genius. Phillips has a superb, if not slightly altered, sense of melody and rhythm. The beats of his phrases play off of the percussive undercurrents of instruments and programming, winding the long way around when necessary to get his point across. The intimacy of each song is astounding, almost more so in the realization that Phillips wrote and performed every note himself, though assisted in production by Carmen Rizzo. Mobilize is certainly full of complex arrangements, sublime lyrical references, and intriguing instrumentation, but the overall impression is somehow much simpler. That's not to say that you'll be whistling these tunes after one listen, although a couple lend themselves to that reasonably well. It's more that one listen is so immediately enjoyable it will leave you wanting another and another, allowing the dedicated seeker to discover the secrets hidden in the layers. And of those, there are many. Kelly McCartney