Dave Matthews back, rocking and reinvented

By David John Farinella
Special to CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- Reinvention typically comes as the result of poverty, be it emotional, musical or spiritual. A quick listen to "Everyday," the latest offering from the sonically updated Dave Matthews Band, it's easy to assume that Matthews has become similarly impoverished.

Upon repeated listenings, however, the chasm that Matthews & Co. have leapt doesn't seem so drastic. Indeed, it seems as if seeds planted long ago are just now flowering under the guidance of producer Glen Ballard, taking the band in new directions.

What saves the band -- drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, violinist Boyd Tinsley and horn master Leroi Moore -- is its sheer musical talent and panache.

AUDIO "I Did It" WAV sound "The Space Between" WAV sound     ALSO Dave Matthews: Trying something new, 'Everyday'     MESSAGE BOARD What is the best album of all time?

"What You Are" and "Sleep to Dream Her" are just two of the tunes on this 12-song offering that brings DMB into the mainstream. A song like "I Did It" may feel like a slap in the face to the more jam- interested DMB fan, but that song is more than adequately offset by the world-music-flavored "Mother Father" and the smoky barroom feel of "Angel." Both tunes have roots in vintage Matthews songs.

At times, the album has a vaguely familiar feel, because it seems as if Peter Gabriel and Sting walked down this path in the late '80s -- Gabriel with "So," and Sting with "Nothing Like The Sun."

The stunning "The Space Between" runs through a number of musical signature changes. It features a gritty guitar opener, an arena-rock chorus and verses that range on confessional -- effects that never would work together in the hands of another band. Interestingly, "The Space Between" is also where producer Ballard's touch is heaviest, thanks to the synthesizer chorus hook he contributed.

Changing voice, lyrics

As much as DMB relies on its musicianship, Matthew's own vocal style and lyrical content are equally important, for his voice and words have touched fans. Both have undergone changes during the writing and recording of "Everyday."

How changed? Compare the opening songs from this latest disc and DMB's "Before These Crowded Streets," which bowed in 1998.

On the untitled song from the 1998 recording, Matthews sings languidly in a slight falsetto: "Come and relax now/put your troubles down/no need to bear the weight of your worries here/let them all fall away."

Then, on "I Did It," which opens "Everyday," he boldly declares: "I'm mixing up a bunch of magic stuff/a magic mushroom cloud of care/a potion that will rock the boat will rock/make a bomb of love and blow it up."

Matthews has evolved from a tortured soul into more of a rock singer, though he's not sacrificed any of his soul searching and wrenching approach. He has that rare ability to break down the wall between listener and singer, especially on a song like "What You Are."

"I walk into this room, all on eyes on me now/but I do not know the people inside/look straight through me these eyes/seeing more wisdom than I have to give away" he sings in the first verse, then follows with the chorus: "What you've become just as I have/are you and I so unalike." Perhaps not, since what comes during the album's gospel-laced closing track is redemption. "Pick me up from the bottom/up to the top love everyday/pay no mind to taunts or advances/I take my chances on everyday" he sings.

Will longtime DMB fans and newcomers alike warm to the reinvented singer? The next year should provide proof for a performer who's demonstrated the professional courage to change and grow.

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