Sean Cox- Return To Me Review
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 05.22.2008
Singer-songwriter Sean Cox has emerged with his debut album, Return To Me, a acoustic-laced album that balances catchy, upbeat tracks with emotional ballads. Can Cox make a dent in a crowded field?
The Band
Sean Cox-Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Eric Seiz-Lead and Rhythm Guitar
Frank Gagliardi-Bass
Kevin Hupp-Drums, Percussion
C.P Roth-Keyboards and String Arraignments
The Track Listing
1. Electricity-3:43
2. Somewhere Right Now-2:41
3. Follow You-3:44
4. Guardian-3:10
5. Innocence-5:22
6. First Word-4:12
7. Letting You Know-5:20
8. Secrets-4:29
9. Lost and Lonely-4:02
10. Run-4:17
11. Take Me-3:51
12. Coming Home-4:27
13. Redemption-3:48
The Review
Being a music critic means that I get many albums in the mail. Some of them I eagerly listen to and thoroughly enjoy while others languish in a pile on my desk that seems to constantly build with no sign of stopping. From time to time, I pick up one of these albums, usually when it’s a slow week, and see if it is worth your time and money.
Sean Cox is a name you probably haven’t heard of yet. Residing in Millstone Township in good old New Jersey, Cox is a gym teacher at a local school whose passion is writing and recording acoustic-laced songs with Christian undertones. After years of working on material and releasing demo tapes, he was noticed by producer Kevin Hupp and given a chance to record a full length album. Return To Me is the result of Cox’s hard work and an album that has its fair share of problems, but may surprise a lot of people with quality songwriting and some potential blockbuster hits.
First track “Electricity” is one of these potential hits. It’s everything that a radio hit has; a catchy chorus, acoustic guitar galore, soothing piano and violin section, and emotional vocals from Cox. This formula is repeated throughout Return To Me, with varying levels of success. Current single “Coming Home” is one of the few upbeat tracks on Return To Me, with Cox and his band mates on fire. Hell, there’s even a keyboard solo that comes out of left field. The fast paced songs are where the energy and excitement lie on the album. “Somewhere Right Now” and “Guardian” bring the rock on and sound like hyper versions of older John Mayer tracks.
The problem with Return To Me that there are too many slow tracks piled onto the middle of the album. I don’t mind some straight up acoustic numbers from time to time, but the album could have benefited from more upbeat tracks, as Cox seems more confident and full of energy with the upbeat tracks than with the slower songs. A few of the longer tracks plod along (“Innocence” and “Letting You Know”) and go basically nowhere musically, showing that Cox needs to improve on making longer songs more enjoyable.
Some of these tracks work though, mostly due to the confidence tone in Cox’s vocals and the dramatic nature of the lyrics. “Follow You” is about the lost of Cox’s mom and hits all the right notes without getting too cheesy or overdramatic, with a nice bluesy feel to it. “Lost and Lonely” is the most confident Cox sounds on the entire album and has some great acoustic work with a steady piano in the background. “First Word,” I believe, is about the first word Cox’s son told him and is a ballad that has a lot of passion behind it.
If I could recommend this album to anybody, it would be a person of the female race. Women will eat Return To Me up and ask for seconds afterwards. I would definitely not crank this up in front of my metal loving friends. So, for most guys, Return To Me is a guilty pleasure that you listen to in the car on the way to work or when you are in the mood for uplifting and catchy music with some soul behind it. Cox could become the next big thing in “adult contemporary” as long as Return To Me can pick up some steam on the radio and in the press.
The 411: Sean Cox has put out a debut album that could become huge for him. The songs are there, the production is great, but the result is less than grat. The album starts out strong, plods along in the middle, then comes back with the last few tracks before ending with the mediocre "Redemption." Cox has a lot of talent and hopefully continues to work at his music, as I think he could have a blockbuster of a career in the future.
