John Gold: Flower In Your Head

John Gold
A Flower In Your Head
(Vagrant Records)

John Gold, a southern Californian singer/songwriter, releases his latest album, A Flower In Your Head, with 10 love themed pop songs, which features monotonous tones with his laid-back melancholy voice.  Many of the tracks include long and drawn out lyrics—an album you can fade out in the background while doing some yoga.  However, two of the tracks, “Honeymade” and “Augusta Vail,” were featured on MTV’s hit shows Teen Wolf and 16 and Pregnant.

Much of the album is overpowered by the lyrics and is less concerned about the quality of the tracks.  It easily puts listeners to sleep.  On “Skyscraper”  Gold sings in his calm and collective voice, “I’m going to fix you a skyscraper/ Never mix, never worry and we come out alive.” Whereas  on “Thursday” he reminds listeners “Ah the love is all around/ We have seen the other side/ It hasn’t been a lullaby,” another way of retelling us how to cope with heartbreak. However, the song creatively combines a light piano tone with room for a beautiful musical break and uses synthesizers to create a popish feel.  In “The Flower In My Head,” a song that corresponds with the title of the album, he sings, “You wait for it/ It comes to you/ It’s like the flower in my head,” which stands out with an array of drums, violin, piano, and a full orchestra.  One song that stands out from the rest is “Baby It’s Your Life,” as he uses a chorus to sing, “Baby it’s your life/ Have fun with your life,” which then repeats.

Those with a preference for slow-paced music will have no problem listening to this lyrical album with little to no emotional breaks.  The sound is overbearingly tiresome with little variance between each of the tracks. Gold needs to find himself before writing his next album and distinguish his tracks rather than making duplicates of them.