The sad truth is that today there are few honest pop artists out there. And tack clever onto that too. (As much as I like Carly Rae Jespen, really who’s going to categorize “Call Me Maybe” as a smart pop song?) I guess part of this has all stemmed from the recent release of Tegan & Sarah’s latest album Heartthrob. Every newspaper and blog have made it a point to highlight that the duo, indie darlings from Calgary have traded their indie cred for mainstream success.

As a casual listener, I have to admit I do like the new album. It’s still the smart songwriting that I’ve always come to expect from them. However being more intuned  to electronic dance, this album to me feels very much like a natural progression from their earliest work. And hey, we all want an artist to progress naturally, right?

Truth be told however I’ve had another pop artist on my mind for the past few weeks. Whether it’s just waiting for the new album or that he handcrafts everything so meticulously, George Michael has very much been on my collective consciousness for the past few weeks. He’s a prime example of honest, and smart pop music without being over anyone’s head.

Don’t get me wrong. Wham was not necessarily smart pop music. But given the early 80’s, they were a lot more adventurous than most pop out there. But it was “Careless Whisper” that really made Mr. Michael come into his own as a pop artist. Faith was a stellar album, and a solo debut album that any pop artist would kill for nowadays.

However he completely changed the game with Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. I was only twelve when this album came out. And to be honest a lot of the themes of loss on the album, while I could relate to some of them, it would still be a few more years before I would be able to clue into the subtext. I instantly clicked with “Praying For Time” and “Freedom 90”, as I’m sure everyone else did. But digging further into the album songs like “Waiting For That Day” and “Heal The Pain” left me with a nagging feeling inside. It was a sense of loss that resonated with me, like those songs were an interpertation.

When I finally started the coming out process in 1997, I listened to the album again. And it definitely made more sense to me, even though George wouldn’t come out until end of 1998. And he would become a soundtrack to most of my failed romances, interests or near- relationships years over.

When Patience came out in 2004, it in a way felt very much like a soundtrack to my life. It was songs like “Please Send Me Someone To Love,”  “Precious Box,” and “Amazing” that had really spoken to me. The rest of the album was phenomenal and a pleasure to listen to, and a keen reminder of the “Freedom 90” days. Patience to me represented people, heartbreak and again felt like an interchangeable soundtrack of how my life was moving at the time. I was also finishing the first draft of Drowned World at the time. The feeling of being nearly completed was really starting become apparent, so much so that I’d started picking apart the sequel and penning the first draft to novel number three.

That full length album had a lot to say, and it one of the few albums that deeply resonated with me as a person and a writer. Three years later George released his career spanning 25. And it couldn’t have come at a more pivotal time. “A Different Corner” had managed to seamlessly paint the picture of a hurt that would soon manifest itself. For something that was written and released in 1986, it had never felt so clear and current…and heartbroken.

It’s probably for that reason that I still snap up any little bit of output of his as few and far between as it has been. In the meantime I guess I’ll just have to make do with the fantastic new offering from Tegan And Sara. Geroge, the music world awaits your triumphant return…