Jayvee Music Reviews with Jeff Vallet

Over the course of his career, Tom Freund has created a wide variety of albums. His first was a collaboration with Ben Harper and his last was a double disc live album, but he’s never made an album like Two moons.
On his latest Freund is in a contemplative yet confident mood, where swirls of nostalgia blend with sharp-eyed views of life today. He delivers this CD’s main message in the standout track “Lemme Be Who I Wanna Be,” in which he declares: “I’m basically hooked on this life/its got a lot of problems/but it treats me real right/and you don’t have to agree with me/but let me fly my freak flag.”
This more emotionally raw and vulnerable song-writing surfaces throughout the album. The opening track “Angel Eyes,” which serve as Freund’s take on Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” motif, expresses his appreciation to his Southern California friends for always having his back.
Freund proudly notes that “Sugar Pie,” the sweet-sounding album closer, “doesn’t have one sarcastic line in the whole song.” Played simply and sung sincerely, it’s his most heartfelt song, even though it concerns a relationship that has come to an end.
Several Two Moons tunes find the songwriter reflecting on his past. The wistful “Happy Days Lunch Box” name-drops the Fonz and the Cunninghams as Freund recalls his carefree youth, while generational conflicts flare up amidst memories of a long-ago summer in “Me and Bernice.”
Fans’ reactions resonate strongly with Freund: he feels that a job of a songwriter to help others access what they are feeling.
“A real joy is when people come and tell me that a song or an album got them through something,” he says.
If Two Moons, with its underlying message of hope in this messy world of ours, serves as an inspiring, encouraging soundtrack for listeners, “then I can say to myself: ‘okay, you’re doing something right for some people out there.’”
Tom Freund keeps it real and delivers an album full of personality and purpose!