Tim Myer's recently released EP The Good Life opens lightly with A Beautiful World, a folk-pop song that helps to wash away any problems you might be having for the three and a half minutes that you listen to it. This is Myer's second release, following 2007's RevolutionEP, which gained acclaim and a lot of airplay on shows such as Army Wives and Grey's Anatomy.
Myers sounds much like prior artists Joshua Radin or Chris Stills in a sort of indie-alternative-pop that seems to be tailor made for inclusion in a television show's soundtrack or a college freshman's playlist. The sound is catchy, pleasant and done before by other artists.
The saving grace here is that Myers works the sound pretty well, which does help. The sound is tight and doesn't entirely pigdgeonhole into any one catagory. A Beautiful World is far different from the ending track, Magic, soundwise, for example. The rest of the album falls somewhere between there and predictability, but comes out as a good sound overall.
The album is overwhelmingly positive, which is a plus considering the state of the world today. A Beautiful World is followed by The Good Life, both of which are carefree and agreeable, while California and On Your Side inject a good dose of nostalgia and a certain amount of longing for the recent days gone by. While this is a nice sound, it's misleading and somewhat representative of the Y-age, of a generation that feels very entitled and has a hard time stepping up to the plate and being accountable. To me, this optimism is one that is somewhat misplaced and not long for this world, for as soon as something challenging comes along, it evaporates.
The Good Life is a fine EP, a good one even - there isn't a bad song on it. It's a bit short, given its status as an EP, and it feels like Myers is testing the waters a little before jumping into the pool. He does well making sure the album isn't peppy-optimistic, but with his sound, I want a little more variety - I want some cynacism and I want to hear a song that will jolt me from an overly-positive haze and bring me back down to earth a little.
A Beautiful World - Tim Myers
