‘Paradise Pop.10’ feels like you have found an unpublished collection of short stories, scrawled hastily on the sides of airsickness bags and cocktail napkins, each one detailing the life of the unwitting passenger fortunate enough to be seated next to Christian Lee Hutson on their flight to Fort Worth.
Anyone who has had the good fortune of falling in love with his first two records know that he is a keen observer of both himself and the world. From the first line of the first song on this new album, “Tonight your name is Charlotte / In a play within a play,” he reminds the listener that he is again weaving a web of autobiographical fiction. However, this time he has somehow both simplified and sharpened his style.