Stephen Cummings – Happiest Man Alive

Happiest Man Alive – Stephen Cummings

By Chris Peken

An artist that moves you, writing songs about the artists that move him. Raymond Chandler, Henry Miller and Edward Hopper all feature significantly on Stephen Cummings’ new album Happiest Man Alive; they were influences on a young Cummings and are still relevant touch points for him today – both in terms of style and mood. Using not much more than some gloriously warm classic Gibson acoustic guitars and a smattering of piano and percussion, Cummings and company have created his most intimate album to date, while still exploring the artistic possibilities of the three-minute pop song. Clocking in at a tad over 41 minutes of sweetly crafted acoustic pop gems, Happiest Man Alive is not a title that many would have previously used to describe Cummings, yet perhaps he is proving that we were wrong all along and a jolly ol’ fellow is he. Stephen Cummings may be well past the half-century mark, but he continues to explore the art of pop music on a level that most are incapable of.

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