Often times when I review albums from certain genres I don’t normally have much familiarity with, I have to try and put myself in the artist’s shoes, imagine their target audience and try to get a feel for what it is they’re going for and to what extent they’re achieving their desired sound. However, in the case of Canadian based singer/songwriter Ed Roman’s new album “Red Omen,” I don’t really have to do any of that because his music is the sort of thing I actually like and listen to. He describes it as an “earthy, funky and magical mix of music,” which seems accurate to me. It comes across as “funky folk.” It’s occasionally fun, sometimes serious/sad but always down to earth and above all…well made.
Side note: When I saw the name “Ed Roman” I thought it seemed familiar, because I remembered a somewhat infamous guitar maker with the same name ( he died several years ago.) This is not the same guy obviously.
Anyhow, Ed Roman’s “Red Omen” is a gem of an album. The title track is probably my second favorite song on it. It reminds me a little bit of quirky 90’s indie pop songs and stuff like The Aquabats. It is creative, fun, and impressively performed by the standards of this genre of music. Another standout track is “time itself” with it’s psychedelic backing that almost gives you the actual sensation of traveling in time (I can only speculate.) The best song though is “I Wish the Wolfman Was Back,” which should be an instant classic. Great work by Ed Roman. I enjoyed this music thoroughly and expect to hear more about this guy in the future.
On iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/red-omen/id1118673318