Greg Garing: Alone

There's a dearth of striking new voices in music right now; everyone emerging from obscurity seems to be tied too closely to a given scene or genre to stand apart from hundreds of wannabes. But listen to the first 10 seconds of Greg Garing's "Safe Within Your Arms," and you quickly realize that all things aside, his voice is one of the few worth hearing. It resides at some strange midpoint between Roy Orbison and Don McLean, and it makes the 11 songs on his debut CD, Alone, sound downright resonant. From whirring, catchy, contemporary pop ("Alone") to heartsick, old-school balladry ("Dream Too Real To Hold," "All My Stars Are In Your Eyes"), he's just plain something else. The album's second half is burdened a bit with quirky, half-baked cornpone ("Where The Bluegrass Grows"), but gems are scattered liberally throughout Alone. It helps that Garing doesn't just strum a guitar or play in front of some anonymous backing band: These songs are built around subtle tricks, be they trip-hoppy loops and samples, a wide array of eclectic instruments (all played by Garing), or surprisingly well-placed sound effects. Alone sounds impressively assured, and with the right attention, Garing could and should be a major voice for years to come.