Wakey! Wakey! - Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You

UPDATED: Mike Grubbs, the creative tour-de force known as Wakey! Wakey!, possesses two rarities in modern indie-pop: a commanding, scale-ascending voice of vibrant clarity and a classically-trained background that gives his songs a dazzling piano virtuoso musicality. After a slew of NY club dates, two live albums, last spring's War Sweater EP and a growing Big Apple buzzfactor, Grubbs recently unleashed his studio debut full length (full distribution due March 16) with the verbosely monikered Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You (Family). Like everything else we've heard from the Brooklyn-based troubadour, we're expecting Almost Everything to be an almost perfect amalgam of intelligent, emotionally centered lyricism, sweeping melodies and wide-screen, theatrical flourishes. This is "big idea" music -- but fortunately for us Grubbs and crew have the chops and the chutzpah to pull it off.

“We set out to make an album this time,” explains Grubbs. “I realize that’s not where people say this business is headed these days, but there’s something about translating a year’s worth of experience into ten songs and letting that tell the story. I feel lucky to have the chance to do that on my own terms.” Lead single "Twenty-Two" is a bit of jaunty piano chords, whimsical whistle and big chorus hook but we're equally enamored of the percolating, string-backed mid-tempo melodic gem "Got It All Wrong." Recommended.

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Wakey! Wakey! - "Got It All Wrong" (from Almost Everything..."

Wakey! Wakey! - "Twenty-Two" (from Almost Everything...")