There Is No Feeling Better

by Mike Adams at His Honest Weight

Overview

From the opening "And Your Bird Can Sing" guitar figure and the sweet, keening sadness of the lead vocal onward, "Pressing Mesh," the opening track on 2019's There Is No Feeling Better, makes it clear that Mike Adams is a pop savant of the first order. The rest of the fourth album from his project Mike Adams at His Honest Weight does absolutely nothing to dilute the power of a stellar opening track, and Adams is clearly a guy with an uncommon talent for writing great pop tunes and giving them shape in the studio. While power pop fans will doubtless dig There Is No Feeling Better, that's not exactly what Adams is doing here. He has a fine way with a melody and a hook, but these songs travel at a comfortable mid-tempo pace, and the production and arrangements reflect not a spunky guitar-based sound that could be recreated on-stage but rather a polished confection with layers of guitar, keys, occasional horns and strings, and banks of backing vocalists to give the performances depth and texture. There are moments where Mike Adams sounds like he could be the less-cheerful Emitt Rhodes of the Midwest (like Rhodes, Adams is a multi-instrumentalist and he plays most of the parts on these sessions), and the craft of his songwriting and the skill set of his performances are genuinely impressive throughout, while co-producer Adam Jessup helps to give this album a focus and coherence that serves his strengths well. There Is No Feeling Better lives up to the canny double meaning of its title; most of these 11 songs depict a man who has been disappointed in life and love, but the frothy joy of the music makes the music irresistible to practically anyone with a fondness for the golden era of pop music in the 1960s and '70s. Mike Adams has been a cult favorite since his days with the group Husband & Wife, and There Is No Feeling Better demonstrates that it's high time his following became larger and more widespread -- his talent is certainly deserving of it. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	06/14/2019
Label:	Joyful Noise
UPC:	0753936903876
Rank:	105301

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mike Adams at His Honest Weight   Primary Artist
David Woodruff   Guitar (Acoustic),Vocals
Greg Dixon   Violin,Vocals
Mike Adams   Piano,Vocals,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass),Guitar (Electric),Guitar (12 String Acoustic)
Jessica Adams   Spoken Word
Laura K. Balke   Vocals
Aaron Denton   Guitar (Acoustic)
Zac Canale   Guitar (12 String Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Hi Hat,Drums (Bass),Drums (Snare)
Lewis Rogers   Vocals
Adam Jessup   Sampling,Synthesizer
Addison Rogers   Vocals
Kurt Friedrich   Piano,Synthesizer
Ben Lumsdaine   Cymbals,Tom-Tom,Hand Drums,Percussion,Tambourine

Technical Credits

David Woodruff   Artwork,Group Member
Greg Dixon   Engineer
Mike Adams   Artwork,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Group Member
Timothy Stollenwerk   Mastering
Aaron Denton   Group Member,Artwork
Lewis Rogers   Engineer
Adam Jessup   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Kurt Friedrich   Group Member
Ben Lumsdaine   Engineer,Group Member
Andy Beargie   Engineer
Zac Canale   Group Member