Jason Parker, multi-instrumentalist and The Truly Me Club brainchild, is nothing short of curious. His debut effort, Popstars on the Lam, is a perfect soundtrack for morning after coffee sips and jaded walks through busy cities long after closing time. Swimming in a sea of mediocre singer/songwriters, TTMC keeps afloat long enough to gain the listener’s trust. All tracks on the album blend together to create a full sound of organ driven, orchestral pop (Brings to mind a stripped-down Sufjan Stevens album). But what drives the curiosity about Parker’s music is his lyrical content and song titles. Songs like “When the Cops Use Their Guns” – a graphical look at a bullets journey or “Cal-ifor-Ni-Ay” – a chance at break dancing fame. TTMC will likely become a staple of any singer/songwriter collection, so you might as well buy the album now, before radio is plagued with cheap remixes.

Finding your place in life or finding someone to love may be an uphill battle, but Portland’s The Truly Me Club, the soul-searching vehicle of multi-instrumentalist Jason Parker, knows this. With a few of his multi-instrumentalist friends along for the ride, Parker gives a sense of redemption to those who are starting over or are just picking up the pieces from where they left off. Despite its somewhat dour outlook, their just-released debut, Popstar on the Lam, is a beautiful, gentle, dreamy slice of heaven, with soaring harmonic vocal narratives, and piano, percussion, harmonica, guitar, bass, bells, and electronic effects encapsulated inside the lush, twinkling orchestrations. Shoe-gazers and bedroom-pop fans, this might just be the one you’re searching for.

This Portland Duo, of Jason Parker and Mica Rapstine, with, admittedly, most of the sounds being offered from Jason, puts out a nice and mellow flow of songs that manage to touch the listener with a very personal and gentle feeling. Something about the structure and delivery brings to mind a quieter Death Cab For Cutie, but there’s also a sad river of distant blues that rolls beneath the soft roll of sound. The songs are deceptively simple and straightforward, moving delicate but with purpose. If a popstar did go on the lam, the songs written would be like this. They could become pop songs, but that would attract too much attention. This is pop incognito, and the songs drift and lull you to a wakefulness that’s between dreams.