:: Donald Fagen - Morph The Cat

Donald Fagen

Donald Fagen is an enigma. For those of you who are not familiar with him he is famously known as the lead singer of Steely Dan, the genre bending musical duo that is probably more famous for causing the biggest Grammy upset of modern times by pipping Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP for Album of the Year with their Every Thing Must Go album. Just like that album and most of Steely Dan’s work, Fagen’s solo outing (his first in over a decade) is a mixture of jazz, R&B and elaborate pop melodies. But unlike Steely Dan, the acoustic guitars have been dropped in favor of warmer jazz compositions and the melodic hooks owe more to Broadway than Neil Young. The results are a sleek dark pop album that is thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding after repeated listens. The key word here is dark. Despite the playful title, Morph The Cat is not something you would put on for the children to sing along to. It’s a nine song cycle about death and the world post 9/11. In ‘What I Do’ Fagen is having a conversation with the spirit of the late Ray Charles and in ‘The Great Pagoda of Fun’ Fagen is brooding about “poison skies and severed heads and pains and lies”. But it is all done to a great jazzy score and with the right amount of wit as to not render it totally depressing. If you don’t believe me then have a listen to ‘Bright Night Gown’. With its big horns and vocals that recall the Purple One it’s possibly the funkiest song about mortality you will ever hear.