Jack Breakfast

Two years after the release of his inspired debut, this Toronto-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/shameless self-promoter pulls off another coup with this collection of nine piano-driven ditties that demonstrate an artist with a true understanding of and appreciation for the power of song. From the melancholy waltz of "Lawn Chairs" and "Boats and Water" to the more up-tempo passages of "Sad Sunday," the quirky pop of the title track and the toy piano punctuation of "Gold in the Hills," the music is delivered with loving fun and a fiery passion that is so sorely lacking in 99 percent of what you'll hear on the radio at any given moment. On the record's opening track, Breakfast muses, "One day I'll make a great rock and roll album." Well, now he's made two.