Freddy
Things You Never Thought I'd Say (2003)

Review by: Craig Curtice
Date: 3/14/04

By now my expectations are extremely low for music mailed to me from unsigned and indie bands. But much to my surprise, Freddy – a singer/songwriter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, who coincidentally looks like a member of the Barenaked Ladies – has a really good album on his hands titled Things You Never Thought I’d Say.

It’s perfectly harmless acoustic and electric rock that begs to belong as background music for the television show The O.C. Every week on the program, the characters get into trouble with the law, feel betrayed, or bemoan being good looking, but at the end of the hour there’s always some mood music playing over the apologies and sunsets. This is it.

Think Oasis styled Brit-Pop minus the whiney drone, mixed with Green Day’s left-field hit “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”

Several songs stand out, particularly “A Moment Away,” "Change It All In One Night,” “Apart,” and “Free.” The album’s R&B closer “Secret (You Know What)” hints at a real future in music while making Justin Timberlake jealous. Freddy’s soft voice and gentle lyrics should enamor the quiet coffeehouse crowd and sentimental high school seniors pent up with tearful emotion come graduation.