Bret McKenzie is a 49 year old musician, songwriter, comedian, actor & music supervisor from Wellington, New Zealand whom I know for portraying Figwit in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring & The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Lindir in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. He also signed to Sub Pop Records in 2022 & put out his sophomore effort Songs Without Jokes, marking his first since Prototype almost 2 decades earlier. He recently wrote “Could This Be Love?” for A Minecraft Movie this spring & has released his 3rd studio LP merely 4 months later.

We get some pianos & drums intertwining on The Beatles-inspired intro “Bethnal Green Blues” placing us into the shoes of a person experiencing bad luck whereas the title track sings about a conversation he had with his father regarding absurd health science articles. “The Only Dream I Know” acoustically asks why it’s difficult for a dream to come true leading into “All the Time” singing about the love he has for his 3 kids.

“That’s the Way the World Goes Round” the halfway point of Freak Out City by telling the story of a man he knows who has a lot to lose over another acoustic guitar leading into “All I Need” pulling inspiration from Paul McCartney specifically for a profound love letter directed at his wife Hannah. “Eyes on the Sun” goes for a folkier direction singing that he’s got his hands on his soul while “Too Young” suggests he’s not here to suffer whilst giving flowers to Paul Simon.

The warmly calm “Highs & Lows” sings about our ups & downs continuously coming & going while the final single during the LP’s rollout “Shouldna Come Here Tonight” finishes it all off with a sequel to both “Stuck in the Middle” by Stealers Wheel & “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim except for the late George Harrison & Gerry Rafferty twists it respectively contains.

Straying further away from the electronic vibes of his debut Prototype, Bret McKenzie’s artistic comparisons to Harry Nilsson & Randy Newmanare exemplified during Freak Out City’s near 40 minute run by passionately returning to his signature sense of humor that Songs Without Jokes lacked & embracing the singer/songwriter, pop rock, adult contemporary & piano rock styles that he began exploring all over the most serious entry in his discography had employed a few years earlier.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!