Mark Olson Flys A Many Colored Kite

Probably most known for being the co-founder of The Jayhawks, critically acclaimed artist Mark Olson has a career that spans over 25 years and doesn't seem likely to end any time soon. His new full length album, Many Colored Kite, shows that after a quarter century of making music he's still got it and even without The Jayhawks by his side he can write fantastic Americana that's tolerable to even those with tastes that are a bit more eccentric. Sounding something like a combination of his "dayjob," and Peter, Paul and Mary, Olson writes songs with just a enough of a twist to save them from being mind-numbingly boring folk.

Many Colored Kite is a classic sounding, rustic folk record that has a trickle of pop sensibility about it that helps it stay on the straight and narrow path of being listenable. With friends like Jolie Holland and Vashti Bunyan helping out the album is filled with lots of flourishes that continually make the album stand out amongst the pack. While Many Colored Kite obviously hints at Olson's past, and how could it not, it's a look into the future that sees the artist saying, "Hey I've been at this for a while and I'm not ashamed of any of it, but here I am now and I've still got loads of songs to write." Many Colored Kite in a sense, is an album of reassurance; in a sense saying that age and maturity only makes your songs stronger, your lyrics more thoughtful and introspective, and your resulting records better.

Olson is essentially like a fine wine, getting better with age and the songs on Many Colored Kite are a reflection of an artist coming to grip with his maturity. The result is a record that's emotionally charged and fascinating to listen to. Olson's ability to create songs that are intimate and quiet one moment and then loud and nearly rock and roll the next are undoubtedly a good thing and no doubt the fruit of his veteran songwriter status. The transition of "Bluebell Song," to "Beehive," serves as a perfect example of this as the songs go from an upbeat rocking moment to a quiet and lush melody that's the exact opposite of what preceeded it. While I'm generally not a fan of the old acoustic warbling thing, Olson changes things up enough and throws in enough hooky moments that my ears and thoughts never drifted too far away from Many Colored Kite. Intospective and weathered, Mark Olson's Many Colored Kite is an intriguing album of how Americana can be made to be something more that boring.