Jeremy Enigk - World Waits (Reincarnate, 2006)

Jeremy Enigk
World Waits
Reincarnate
2006

Rating: 7 frog queens out of 10

It’s been ten years since Jeremy Enigk split off from Sunny Day Real Estate, found jesus, and released the absolutely brilliant orchestral pop album “Return of the Frog Queen”. A lot has changed around the world in those ten years, so while I might have been hoping that Enigk’s sophomore solo effort “World Waits” would be a “Frog Queen" sequel, it’s not really reasonable to expect that to actually happen. Instead, we got an album that is more electrified, less orchestral, and…dare I say it – possibly befitting of an “adult contemporary” label. The one thing that entered my head upon first listen and never let up was the mid-80s work of Peter Gabriel, particularly his immensely popular album “So”. It doesn’t sound dated like that release, and there is nothing quite as silly as “Sledgehammer” on “World Waits”, but other than Enigk’s recognizable voice many of these tracks would easily be passed off as fare for one of those crappy lite-rock stations. With all that said – I quite like this record. I know, it doesn’t add up, and maybe it’s a sign of me turning into my parents, but outside of some overly serious lyrics here and there, this is a really beautiful album, with more than enough going on to tide over pop fans and Sunny Day fans alike.