Freedy Johnston: Right Between The Promises

Freedy Johnston's greatest gift may be his accessibility, which is no surprise for a singer who had to sell his family's Kansas farm to finance his breakthrough recording, 1992's Can You Fly. Throughout Johnston's six-album career, his plain-spoken folk-pop has demonstrated a flair for sharp, direct storytelling that nicely matches his distinctively honeyed delivery. The downside is that Johnston's albums can be so direct that they border on plain, with the nuances of 1999's Blue Days, Black Nights tucked into its obscurest margins. Likewise, it takes a few passes to find them in Right Between The Promises, which first announces itself as somewhat of a trifle. At 38 minutes, Johnston doesn't lend himself much time to stretch out, and he further undermines his efforts by stripping one of the disc's catchiest songs ("Radio For Heartache") down to a voice-and-banjo arrangement that sounds like a demo to the hit single that would finally duplicate the success of 1994's "Bad Reputation." "Back To My Machine" is more ambitious in its execution, but it's the exception that proves the rule, with Right Between The Promises adhering mostly to modestly catchy numbers like the snappy "Save Yourself, City Girl," the breezy single "Love Grows," and the briskly rocking "Waste Your Time." Neophytes should begin with Can You Fly or 1994's unfailingly pleasant This Perfect World, but Johnston's fans shouldn't mind Right Between The Promises' tendency to keep his narrow boundaries mostly intact.