Rating: N
On my original advance copy of Somebody’s Miracle, there’s a raunchy, rollicking track called Can’t Get Out Of What I’m Into. The song served as an alibi for Phair’s MOR makeover, with subtle lyrical pokes at the industry and music being just a “day job.” Blunt and sardonic, it was closer to vintage Phair than anything else on the disc. Imagine my surprise to discover the track had been cut from the finished album and replaced with Closer To You, a maudlin acoustic ditty about “filling up holes in my soul.” I’ve given up wishing for another Exile In Guyville, but this is a void of gooey, bland ick, co-produced by John Mayer guru John Alagia and Sheryl Crow/Hilary Duff svengali John Shanks. The sad part isn’t just that the album sounds like fluff for folks who think Phair’s pal Crow is too edgy, but that the formerly whip-smart songwriter has resorted to penning dross like “With me you’ll feel protected / And you’ll never be rejected.” Yuck.