(This review first appeared in issue #88 of Shindig! magazine.)
An album title to increase your knowledge, (Latin for flow, in case you were wondering), Effluxion is the fifth full-length offering from Seattle-based musician Michael Benjamin Lerner, fresh from a stint as touring keyboard player with Teenage Fanclub. The album was self-produced over two years in the basement of his home, with Lerner taking on all instrumental duties. He's songwriter who knows how to knock out a decent hook-laden tune or ten. Be it the quiet/loud dynamics of 'Set A Course', the piano-led pop of 'How Do I Get Rid Of Sunlight?', or the playfully dancing bassline on 'Cut The Quick' the attention is focused on songcraft with properly pleasing choruses and twist-laden mid-eights throughout.
Containing only ten taut tracks Effluxion may be a short listen, but after spending 32 minutes in its company the world will seem a brighter, more hopeful place. As Teenage Fanclub would say – ain't that enough?
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