It’s not true in all cases, but in most I think it’s fair to assume that solo artists have to work a bit harder at just about everything than full bands do. Granted, there’s far less compromise to accept, but there are also long, lonely drives across BFE to gigs, leading bands of jaded for-hire musicians, and of course handling all songwriting and arranging duties. In honor of these loners, I’m saluting my favorite singular artist records of 2007.

Richard Hawley/Lady’s Bridge (Mute) - I’ve written a lot about Sir Hawley lately, and with good reason - you’ll be hard pressed to find a more elegant songwriter with more warmth in his voice and understanding of the role of pop music in the lives of his listeners.

MP3: Richard Hawley - Lady’s Bridge

Jens Lekman/Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian) - This precocious Swede is a pop music master in a time when the genre is struggling to identify a true star, and his combination of pretty, bouncy instrumentation and unmistakably drole vocal delivery sets Lekman apart from his tinkle-tinkle, bedroom pop contemporaries.

MP3: Jens Lekman - And I Remember Every Kiss

David Dondero/Simple Love (Team Love) - Dondero’s commitment to the bummed-out narrative tradition of the American singer-songwriter doesn’t hurt this record in the slightest - the grit in his voice is apparent when hushed or howling, and quasi-fucked up lyrics like “”I’ll possess your boyfriend’s body, then you’ll be making love to me” prove that he’s dark enough to be more than passably interesting. Think a less self-conscious, more swaggering Conor Oberst.

MP3: David Dondero - Rothko Chapel

Phosphorescent/Pride (Dead Oceans) - Part campfire genius, part one-man freak folk-church choir, Brooklyn’s Phosphorescent wraps his pretty but vaguely disturbing compositions in a swirling cornucopia of sound built out of looped synthesizers and strained acoustic guitar. A different, difficult, and ultimately redeeming masterpiece.

MP3: Phosphorescent - A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise

Boddicker/Big Lionhearted and the Gallant Man (Banter) - Brian Deck produced this record, and that old Modest Mouse-vast, spaced out build is all over it. That’s a great thing, mind you, and Deck reaches beyond Caleb Boddicker’s undeveloped voice to pull out the real heart in his electic songwriting. There’s a knowing naivety at work here, and the result could loosely be billed as freak folk but has far more depth than, say, Devendra Banhardt. This is the kind of album most songwriters pray to make in their 30’s, 40’s, or ever, and Boddicker can’t even legally buy a highball of whiskey.

MP3: Boddicker - Mississippi Beautiful, You Know I Love You

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