As Rolling Stone framed it in naming Philip Creamer an “Artist You Need to Know” in 2018, “Creamer has honed a howl that registers somewhere between Freddie Mercury and Jeff Buckley.” But even those lofty touchstones—and let’s throw in Rufus Wainwright and Muse’s Matt Bellamy, for good measure—don’t do much to explain the way Creamer’s soulfully crafted lyrics and gorgeous rock mini-operas upend expectations.

Creamer’s first singles out of the gate for 2021 continued that heady balance of musical ambition and spiritual connection, which is the real key to Creamer’s message, animating the classic rock balladry on “Peace & Understanding” and lifting the oceanic, piano-driven “Disconnect.”

“Hideaway,” an expansive take on the kind of Big Piano rock track that icons like Queen, Sparks, and Elton John traded in, rising and cresting with the chordal colors of a stage production. That blend of surging energy and deep harmony, says Creamer, owes as much to his roots singing in a Lone Star State church as it does to his deep study of rock
epics by bands like Led Zeppelin and Jellyfish.