What an enjoyable, pleasant daydream of an album. Now And Then is cohesive and consistent, not a clunker in the mix, but if there is a drawback it’s that it lacks an obvious breakout song. Paul Federici’s voice is beautiful, sensitive and sweet in a manner that warrants comparison to Don Amero or Dallas Green of City and Colour, minus the despair. Federici’s tone is happier and brighter matching his optimistic and occasional wistful lyrics. He writes very personal song and does a nice job of balancing the narrative with the emotions.
After the inevitable love affair with his voice subsides, the supporting mix of instruments varies from song to song, but vocals and a bright acoustic guitar are always in the foreground and anchor the songs as a collection. Think Federal Lights or Philip Philips. On “Strange Disease,” an uptempo acoustic pop number, the cello adds a classical element and becomes the backbone of the song. In the studio Federici also performs his own background vocals, and sounds great with himself. (Independent, paulfederici.ca) Broose Tulloch