Return to Center finds Kirin J. Callinan putting a unique and hilarious spin on the covers album, somehow resulting in his most effective character portrait yet.
My mans really had a song about him getting called gay, so he goes out and cucks some dudes.
"Return to Center" while it has a really bad cover art, it is still much better than "Bravado"!
A beautiful, passionate covers album that actually feels like an artistic statement instead of a random collection of songs. It's so easy to see why Kirin chose the songs he did here, they all relate to him very deeply and summarise who he is as an artist. His cover of "Whole of the Moon" is genuinely incredible, he really takes these songs and makes them his own.
Also, the backstory behind this album is hilarious and only adds to how much of a mad genius Callinan is.
As far as cover albums go, this is very much up there. Kirin takes these long forgotten 80s and 70s numbers and revamps them through his typical showy, eccentric lens. The title is fitting, seeing how these handpicked tunes not only map Kirin's artistic influences perfectly, but also cut deep into who he is as an artist and as a personality; not only that, but this album was recorded entirely using instruments rented from Guitar Center, and he and his band recorded and mixed the album all ... read more
This man's talent is absolutely endless and so indescribably unpredictable that you can expect any genre and he will find it in all of them.
1 | Life Is Like 4:26 | 93 |
2 | The Homosexual 4:38 | 95 |
3 | The Whole Of The Moon 5:20 | 100 |
4 | It Takes A Muscle To Fall In Love 4:37 | 85 |
5 | Pretty Boy 4:24 | 84 |
6 | Return To Center 4:30 | 55 |
7 | Rise 5:11 | 100 |
8 | Signed Curtain 3:11 | 75 |
9 | You Weren't In Love With Me 3:36 | 92 |
10 | Vienna 5:20 | 93 |
#19 | / | The Needle Drop |
#73 | / | Under the Radar |