This man has a beautiful singing voice. Some may say that it sounds like a female vocalist, but the soaring falsetto's are just plain pretty. This is indie-folk music in the vein of Elliot Smith, Nick Drake and maybe some Simon and Garfunkle. Hanson has a real feel for melody, and his vocal lines bounce, float and drive over and through the accompaniment, which is usually just really nicely recorded acoustic guitar parts.
When the tempo, drums and distortion do get turned up (or even on) things really pick up. My favorite tracks are those that balance Jeff's voice, songwriting and dynamic arrangements. The only real "rocker" on the album is track 3, Welcome Here. It matches a real drive with a rather engaging melody, and the song has a nice structure which breaks down into a really slow and soft bridge to segway one last time into a raucous final verse and chorus (as raucous as a tiny guy who only sings falsetto can be...).
My other favorite picks off the album are I Know Your Name and This Time It Will. They just seem to have that "it" quality when you hear them, the indescribable force that grabs you and makes you want to hear the song twenty-seven times on repeat.
Jeff Hanson is on Kill Rock Stars, so his albums should be available at whatever local record shop is near you. I highly recommend that you go out and add this album to your collection. Seriously. Check him out online at jeff hanson dot net, the site is a little old, but he hasn't been doing much live playing and such since his last tour, so he is probably just song-writing and not worrying about press or anything right now... let's hope.