Wax Wings

Citing the mythological flight of Icarus for the title of his fifth album, Joshua Radin’s Wax Wings is the singer/songwriter’s first self-released LP. Without any help from a record label, Radin takes more creative risks here than ever before, which could be what gave him the feeling of flying so close to the sun. In the opening “Beautiful Day,” he proclaims: “I’m gonna wash the dust off my soul…/Oh my my I’m learning to fly.” This overwhelming feeling of starting over is delicately punctuated by his lifelong nurturing of folk and roots influences; this time he counters a matured musical restraint with more impassioned singing. “When We’re Together” exudes an incisive sense of songwriting that steers traditional templates through surprising turns and twists. Radin’s whispery voice still muses on relationships. But there’s a noticeably wiser side to his poetry that can only come from a man teetering on the edge of his 40s and taking inventory of his experiences thus far. In the lyrics to “In Her Eyes,” Radin has to remind himself, “Settle down/You just met her tonight.”