Artist: Richard X. Heyman
Album: Pop Circles
Label: Turn-Up Records
Release Date: 6.14.19
Worthy of being lifted in triumph by a bespectacled cult of pop classicists and rock music-obsessives, Pop Circles is the bright, immersive 13th album from the one-man, technicolor song factory of idealistic power-pop champion Richard X. Heyman. He still exercises almost complete control over the manufacturing process.
As per usual, Heyman plays just about every instrument here, drawing out sweet, tuneful nectar from a wide range of acoustic and electric guitars, while ceding bass duties to wife and longtime recording engineer Nancy, whose strong, melodic sensibilities stir these intoxicating drinks. Lovely flourishes and flows of strings courtesy of Julia Kent and Chris Jenkins abound, heightening the yearning nostalgia of “Guess You Had to be There” and bittersweet resignation of “Everything Must Go,” their swerving, undulating movements adding baroque washes and enhancing the record’s kaleidoscopic swirls, like those sweeping through the swooning “As Love Would Have It” and “Where Circles End.”
Echoes of The Zombies, The Left Banke and other ‘60s pop mystics whisper in the ears of Heyman’s acolytes on Pop Circles, as smooth blends of vocal harmonies tumble and slide around this sophisticated musical playground. And yet for all of its immaculately crafted refinement, Pop Circles doesn’t mind getting its hands dirty. Befitting Heyman’s rugged, garage-rock history with The Doughboys, “Action Screams Louder Than Words,” with its whirling organ frenzy, is tough and uncompromising, while the racing pace, infectious energy and rolling piano runs of “Marlena” take a heartfelt joy ride. As a bonus, Richie’s 3-Chord Garage – an unbeatable five-card suit of reimagined songs he wrote for The Doughboys – is tacked onto Pop Circles, offering the strutting riffs of “Land,” the explosive and vibrant R.E.M-like jangle of “Until Now” and the dark vibe and slow-building tension of “Route 22.” The heaviness and cycling six-string designs of “Hope,” from Pop Circles proper, would fit right in with that rough-and-tumble cast of characters.
Accompanying this vivid rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza is a photo of Heyman sitting next to a small record player, old 45s scattered everywhere. Heyman is clearly in his element, as he is with Pop Circles, where suckers for surefire hooks cannot possibly ignore the catchy “Upside and Down,” and “In a Sunlight Room” is fluent in the winsome, country-tinged poetry once spoken by The Byrds. As wise as an elder statesman here, Heyman also sounds youthful and innocent, even euphoric, on the brilliantly conceived, almost flawless Pop Circles, beguiled by memories of romances and inspired by noble socio-political causes of the past and present. No wonder his followers are so loyal.
—Peter Lindblad
Richard X Heyman has been a consistently brilliant master of both pop rock and power pop. He’s been criminally overlooked by the commercial music industry. He’s akin to an underground Todd Rundgren. Heyman is resplendent with instrumental, vocal and songwriting skills.