Songs to Forget

AMG Review of Songs to Forget

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Though numerous musicians play on Spanish Prisoners' debut album, it's essentially the solo project of Leonid Maymind. He wrote, produced, and sang all the songs, using a changing cast of supporting players, as well as playing several instruments himself. It's the kind of record that eludes easy handles even after several spins, not so much because it's frustrating trying to determine where he's coming from as for the wide territory it covers without settling into a predictable pattern. Generally speaking, he's a wistful, ruminative singer/songwriter, but unlike many performers who fit into that overall description, he's not a depressive. His gentle, slightly quivering voice might generate very rough comparisons to Ray Davies. But the songs aren't Kinksy; they're usually indie pop-folk-rock at the core, though spiced with dashes of light psychedelic flourishes, power pop, Baroque orchestration, and Americana. His lyrical stances are somewhat world-weary and imbued with a pining for a escape into a better, less troubled place, though delivered with an engaging appeal that's rather sunnier and less cynical than the words look on the printed page.