All Make Believe
Gregory Page
Sounden Records
8.6 stars

*Goes well with gramophones and gin martinis

Every time I listen to a Gregory Page recording, it reinforces my belief that Page doesn't just write songs, he writes albums.

Most artists (and there's nothing wrong with this) write their tunes à la carte, drop them into an album, and give the album a name after the fact.

But judging from what I hear on his records, Page comes up with an album concept first, then writes songs that perpetuate the album's theme.

I could be wrong about this, but it's certainly how his albums read, especially on Make Believe, Greg Page's 7000th solo album, on which appear music-loving bumble bees, hand-shaking ghosts, silver dollar moons, telephone psychics, automobiles that dream, and bedrooms that rain - all of which, by themselves, are simple metaphors, but combined become important components of the Make Believe theme. Take the title cut for example:

"There's a knock at the door
My grandparents are here
On a holiday from heaven
We hug and we cheer
And play cards and drink whiskey
Then they disappear."

The two signature aspects of this album are his lyrical imagery and the bittersweet that oozes from the speakers, thanks, in part, to liberal dashes of the most melancholic instrument in the world, the cello, as well as the violin, which puts the sweet into "bittersweet."

Also enhancing the emotive aspect of All Make Believe is the hint of 40's style vocals - a cross between Mel Torme, Nick Drake, and James Blunt - with all of Torme's style, most of Drake's woebegone tone, and none of Blunt's overblown cornball-adry