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Release Date: January 23, 2007 Label: Dualtone Music Group Related Sites: · Official Site · E-Card Grade: A-

Singer/songwriter Carey Ott's Lucid Dream could not have been more aptly titled. His debut album is an appealing collection of folky and indie-pop vignettes that draw the listener in with an immediate sense of intimacy. Each song has a story to tell, and the tale is descriptively related in such a way that a picture of the scene forms in your head. The music drifts along ethereal and dream-like -- punctuated by emotional build-ups -- all in a catchy combination that's hooky and melodic.

The songs are structured with a strong Beatles influence, and Ott sounds eerily like George Harrison throughout. Everything derives from an acoustic guitar base, but a chiming Fender Rhodes (played by Gary Palmer on "Virginia" and "Mother Madam") and tinkling xylophone (especially in the first two tracks) and harmonica ("It's Only Love") adds to the Wilco-like pop styling intricacies. And just when you think you've got the style figured out, Ott throws a few power chords at you.

It's a bit of a cliché to call these tunes "breezy", but that's just what they are. Lyrically, however, Ott displays a depth that instantly puts you in the moment. He explores the intricacies of love, often employing light and dark analogies to get his point across. For instance, "Hard to Change" opens with "No more light so get used to the dark/Spend some time with the hurt that's in your heart" and the chorus of "Daylight" proclaims "You can never get your mind back/Back to the way it was/When you were daylight for me/When the sky was so black you couldn't see".

Love gets memorable catch-phrases like "Love can be too hard on your brain" ("Hard to Change"), "Love is a dogfight/You're losing your shelf life" ("Shelf Life"), "Love was just a sweet idea we could lie beside" ("I Wouldn't Do That To You"), "Love keeps making me mad" ("It's Only Love"), and a musician's revelation, "Isn't love what you play for?" ("Kicking Stones").

The album's opener, “Am I Just One”, has been featured on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy as a smitten lover questions the attention of his object of affection: "You got a lot of things going on/Am I just one?" Another of my favorites would be “I Wouldn’t Do That To You”, which has also seen television exposure on the season finale of ABC Family’s Kyle XY. The word paintings of that song are remarkable, with lines like "Looking at the soft skin of yesterday's light fall upon you/Rising up off the pillowy haze that we gaze through" and "Peel off the yellowing pages of memories in black and white".

The disc concludes with the sort of charming mix of moody ("Sunbathing") and enthusiastic ("Lucid Dream") that makes you instantly hit the repeat button to start it all over again. After years in the banking industry, he's now just a part-time teller as he pursues his lucid dreams of a music career. He's had local popularity with the Chicago band Torben Floor, and if this solo debut is any indication of the riches in his musical vault, Carey Ott deserves to cash his check to stardom.

The CD packaging includes a five-panel fold-out booklet with all the lyrics, and various drawings by Ott, if his music isn't quite enough for you. Additionally, there are a couple of bonus tracks available at eMusic, "January" and "To Get Lost", that are not on the CD.