Adam Gilbert | en

Over the past few years, as singer-songwriter Adam Gilbert has established himself as a dynamic presence on the NYC club scene, his mold-breaking, envelope pushing brand of piano driven pop-rock has earned him comparisons to master piano-pop craftsmen like Ben Folds and Billy Joel, with a crazy-cool touch of Frank Zappa. On his second independent release, the popular performer matches his progressive style with an equally provocative title, Fishing For Water --a metaphor for his quest for musical perfection in the writing and recording process.

The classically trained pianist and vocalist is well aware that his quest for perfection is more part of his musical journey than a specific destination, but comes pretty darn close to achieving his goal on the 13-track project. Whereas his 2004 debut album K-16 was a stylistically eclectic chronicle self-discovery that came during and just after graduating from the University of Miami, Fishing For Water is a more fully realized vision that finds Gilbert stretching the artistic bar while also giving the listener deeper, more personal lyrics, rich harmonies and strong hooks throughout.

As reflected in the thumping and infectious opening track “Break Through Today,” the singer celebrates the true joys of indie musicmaking by tumbling down barriers harmonically and rhythmically and not limiting himself to the confines of what passes today as an adult contemporary pop song. Intriguingly, he chose to pursue a musical direction off the beaten path after a more conventional upbringing involving classical piano lessons and singing classical music as part of his composition major at the university.

“Genre wise, Fishing For Water is piano based pop rock but stylistically, there’s an exciting sense of being all over the place, by design,” says Gilbert. “‘Monkey ’ is a crazy, uptempo piece I wrote in college that celebrates what I consider youthful insanity, while the opening track ‘Break Through Today ' began as a classical piece and takes off as one review called it a modern master piece.”

It is extremely rare to have so many tracks highlighted on one album simply due to the strength of the songwriting. A few others that also stand out are “All Of Us Are Missing ,” a more acoustic, organically produced pop track about how we are always missing someone from our past. "Give the World a Chance " sounds like an already classic hit that will receive much attention from the slick chorus alone. The lyrical and songwriting depth of the sixth track "Danny Knows" is one of the most beautiful and touching acoustical songs I have heard in a while. Gilbert uses his beautiful falsetto voice on the heartfelt closing track “Credo ,” which imagines what it would be like to sit and have a literal conversation with God. Complementing his own story, the singer adds a lengthy snippet from legendary author William Faulkner’s Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech to emphasize and elaborate on his vision.

“Many times, listeners want music that’s simple to grasp to come into their world,” says Gilbert, “but I’m hoping that some of the challenges I offer in the music and lyrics inspire them to take the chance and jump into the world I’ve created here. I hope some of the untraditional pop songs will speak just as loud or even louder than some of the traditional stuff, lyrical and musically.” .