On his best-known material outside the film world, Randy Newman managed to largely cloak biting satire in hummable melodies and sing along choruses resulting in first-class bait and switches, the finest being “I Love L.A.” The song is a fixture at Los Angeles sports arenas despite including such lines as “Look at that bum over there, man/ He's down on his knees.”
On Harps and Angels, Newman’s first proper album in nearly a decade, the acerbic singer/songwriter makes no effort to placate casual listeners, keeping the focus on the mostly misanthropic lyrics, which are more spoken than sung. Laidback, New Orleans piano and minimal orchestration accompany the singer. Newman, the fellow responsible for the atheist anthem “God’s Song,” starts the disc by second guessing his non-belief in the humorous title track.
