John Michael Lind
Out on the Land (JML Music)

John Michael Lind must feel strongly about his songs. After all, his online bio says that he’s polished them through years of playing “coffee houses, street corners and dive bars”, and we know that’s no easy path to fame. He’s also ponied up to have six of his tunes recorded professionally, which is a good call. At the very least, this crisp-sounding EP should be Lind’s ticket to the next level of fame: opening for touring acts in not-quite-so-divey bars.

But do his songs stand up to scrutiny? Here, the news is not so good.

Out on the Land’s title track, which kicks things off, isn’t bad. It’s a modern-day dust-bowl ballad about an old man living out his declining days on the prairie, and there’s clearly something real to it. Could it be a portrait of Lind’s own dad? Alas, neither the lyrics nor the singer’s bio offers any specifics—and things get a lot more generic from there. Track 2, “Beautiful Dancing Lady”, is a song of desire and seduction, featuring the quatrain “Oh you’re so beautiful/Oh you’re so fine/Beautiful dancing lady/Won’t you be mine.” Even a Hallmark Cards copywriter would wince.

Things look up with “Free Tide”, which opens with an arresting verse about “a tide in the affairs of men”. Oh, wait: that’s Shakespeare, making an uncredited guest appearance. Quoting the Bard isn’t necessarily a bad idea; following said quote with “So get your hands out of your pants/Be ready for that cubic centimetre of chance” is less appealing.

In his defence, Lind has an attractive light tenor and knows his way around a guitar. But can he pen a memorable lyric? That, for now, remains to be seen.