Racket is no stranger to Mark Fredson, having interviewed him SIXTEEN years ago! His new record, The Company Man, is definitely the result of the additional songwriting and performance experience under his belt. It sounds like it should come bundled with a denim jacket, a sick saxophone solo, and an open bar tab at your local dive. It’s got big mid-80s sitcom theme song energy — think Perfect Strangers but with modern-day production and a polish that makes those vintage vibes hit in hi-def.
Fredson’s voice isn’t just the lead, it’s the damn main character. He uses emotional tone shifts like some players use guitar pedals: smoothly, intentionally, and always to serve the song. The instrumentation feels like it’s dancing around him, dodging and weaving with a practiced grace, giving the whole record a funhouse mirror vibe — familiar shapes, but bent in ways that make you pause and appreciate the craftsmanship. Little flitters and wavering reverb don’t hurt.
Having spent just a week in Nashville in 2023, I can confirm: Music City earns the title. It’s the only place I’ve ever been where live music pours out of every open door like the city itself is humming in key. I must have heard two dozen acts before I even went into a bar. It makes sense that Fredson would write a song about leaving it. When music is your career, and your town’s basically one big jam session, stepping away probably feels like quitting church. But The Company Man captures that push-pull beautifully.
And then there’s “Expectations,” a song that punched me right in the relocation feels. Is it actually about unexpected moves and/or career changes? I don’t think so. But, after nearly four decades in southern California and now calling the PNW home, the chorus — “You’ve got to readjust your expectations, learn to love your situation, kid” hits harder than I expected.
Ultimately, this album walks a tightrope between retro charm and emotional depth. It’s just as much at home blasting through the speakers at your neighborhood bar as it is playing softly while you nurse a beer and muse on how life got so weird and wonderful. The Company Man is Fredson’s love letter to growing up, moving on, and still refusing to clock out of the music biz.
It’s safe to say I am into it.