Landau

Chris A. Cummings (aka Mantler) was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1969. Although he studied classical piano and wrote pop songs as a young child, it was not until his mid-twenties that he realized his vocation as a songwriter. 'Landau' is Mantler's second album for Tomlab (landaus were horse-drawn carriages in the nineteenth century cities). The album was conceived as a carriage-ride through contemporary traffic, in the form of a love letter to African-American music, written by a white Canadian. A return to the more groove-centered Mantler recordings, 'Landau“ includes beautiful pop songs like 'Playin' Along,' with its extended chorus and carefully crafted instrumentation, stylish drum machine beats and some to-die-for Cummings harmonies on 'Regret,' wonderful love songs like 'Comes A Daybreak,' and more dance oriented radio tunes like 'Togethernest,' with references ranging from Joni Mitchell, Donald Byrd, '80s soul, Burt Bacharach, and Roy Ayers. A recording from a talented songwriter that will hopefully introduce him to a wider audience.