Korby Lenker: Korby Lenker

Korby Lenker
Korby Lenker
(Stuffed Pirhana)
3 out of 5 stars

Go ahead, pinch his cheeks. Invite him over for brunch. Buy him a small gift. You’ll want to do all these things and more after hearing Korby Lenker’s sweet, likeable, even huggable folk-pop confections.

Yet despite easy rolling melodies, shy, self-effacing vocals and clean cut production that never over embellishes the songs, not all is lollipops and roses in Lenker’s occasionally dark, edgy world. “We make love like strangers/here we go again,” sung over a peppy, buoyant backbeat doesn’t exactly scream happy times with a significant other. Other titles such as “Lovers are Fools,” “Hurts Me So,” and the Prince-styled bassy funk of “Forbidden Fruit” similarly disguise more ominous concepts behind genial, sunshiny tunes ready to be hummed after the first spin. Listen closely and you’ll hear a teardrop fall from his doe-eyed voice on “April May” and sense the barely concealed regret for a life not lived to its fullest on “Got to be More” and “My Little Life,” the latter featuring a bouncy ukulele. A closing cover of the rust tinged “Heart of Gold” wraps those sentiments up in Neil Young’s 1972 older-than-his-years classic.

Lenker’s sixth album exudes a casual professionalism behind his music and a sharp band that occasionally includes the harp of Paula Bressman in a surprisingly non-romantic setting. But more than anything else, Lenker’s nice-guy approach and hurt puppy demeanor may entice you to sing along and then write Lenker to see if he’d like to be your new BFF.