If looking at the cover of The Fugitives’ album Everymen reminds you of something you are familiar with, something coming from the ’60s, you would certainly be on the right track.
The brainchild of British singer/songwriter/producer Matt Woolf, the cover is actually inspired by the famous Andy Warhol quote “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” And yes, the music goes into that, what some call, classic rock direction, with some instantly catchy songwriting, sophisticated instrumentation, and vocal harmonies all over.
Even the musicians involved with Woolf here, speak of the ‘classic’ connection ― John Helliwell of Supertramp and former Lloyd Cole & The Commotion’s drummer Stephen Irvine among others.
Of course, for many, that ‘classic’ tag at the same time signifies something old and antiquated, something to steer clear of.
Approaching Everymen with such a premise would put any listener completely off the tracks. Sure, you got traces of Supertramp, ELO, and, unmissable, The Beatles, but if you take the right approach with such high-quality influences, you can still come up with something really fresh, and at the same time, quite fitting in these ‘modern’ times, and Woolf and The Fugitives have both ample imagination and experience to do exactly that.
Does the music on Everymen squarely fit into, for some, the dreaded pop category? It certainly does. But, pop executed as good as this does not create any dread, but some great listening.
