Jesse Harris is a Grammy award-winning, New York City singer-songwriter who has written songs recorded by Willie Nelson, Feist and Bright Eyes, but his solo career has consistently failed to gain momentum. Yet Harris does anything but beg for attention on Watching the Sky as he simply exercises his strength—writing traditional pop songs with various flavors displaying a breadth of ability.
The track list consists of 17 songs rarely longer than three minutes, giving it the feel of a pop record from the '50s or early '60s, while depending on consistent pop melodies to carry it from track to track. Drawing strong connections to Paul Simon and using an easy-to-digest, empathetic songwriting style allow Harris to show off his naturally unassuming personality.
""On a Day"" begins Watching the Sky with a surprising reggae groove. Right off the bat, he provides listeners with comfort through the type of song you listen to on the first beautiful day of summer when you have nothing to worry about except for personal expression, reminding listeners throughout the song, ""You are free to be anybody you want to be.""
The feel-good pop of the first couple tracks figuratively opens the album up for listeners, so when the first sign of deep emotion from Harris comes on ""While We Slept,"" it provides extra weight to the established trust. Laments of lost love, waves of resonating, clean guitar and a Paul Simon-esque delivery turn this seemingly average song into a standout track.
""Fool's Paradise,"" easily the longest track on the album, begins uniquely with a soft, yet drunkenly stomping guitar and marimba. Another Simon-esque heartfelt delivery from Harris cements his ability to interact emotionally with listeners, providing one of many songs on Watching the Sky memorable for its songwriting tactics.
Nevertheless, with the several short songs giving away much of what Harris has to offer in the first half of the album, the back half stands in danger of growing stale. Although there are a couple missteps resulting from this, the best tracks on the album add profound depth to the already established sound through distinctive writing techniques.
First, ""The Fool"" stands as a remarkable tribute to Nick Drake. With a free-flowing confidence dominating from beginning to end, nothing has sounded closer to Drake's Bryter Layter. Additional flavor from the ever-present marimba adds a needed twist of originality. Similarly, ""Gimmer"" is a wandering acoustic composition that would fit into Drake's small catalogue seamlessly.
The one complaint that could build over the course of the album is its lack of dynamic variation. In today's music, bands like TV on the Radio and Arcade Fire attract mobs by building songs from the ground up before breaking them down. On the other hand, a musician with Harris' purely musical, melodic focus track after track demands listeners to not only pay attention throughout a whole song, but also asks for a full 45 minutes of concentrated listening.
As a classic pop songwriter who doesn't mess around much with dynamics, Harris depends on his ability to keep his sound fresh over the duration of the album, only allowing a couple questionable calls to sneak onto Watching the Sky. These are quickly made up for, however, over the course of the album, as his brand of feel-good pop successfully provides relaxing reggae, lamenting love songs and stimulating pastorals to consistently please listeners.
