Ah, Baby Dayliner. He’s threatening to become the most-posted-about artist at this here site if he’s not careful. That’s a good sign, though, because it means his 2006 release, Critics Pass Away (Brassland), is enduring as one of my favorites this year.

It also means I’ve outgrown my very initial impression that his stylish loungey vibe is some sort of cheap shtick. Critics Pass Away shows Baby Dayliner (aka Ethan Marunas) as a strangely endearing romantic – kinda campy, a little cheesy, but warm and infectious.

The video for The Morning Sun, an unreleased track, certainly isn’t a breakthrough in cinematic achievement; it was shot near a pool behind his home in Brooklyn as he performed the song. But the sunbathers, floating lazily in the background in the pool, seem to capture the breezy horns and laid-back attitude of the track.

The single (and sort of unsteady) camera angle captures Baby Dayliner, slicked back hair and all, standing next to this above-ground pool, singing away to nobody in particular, as if he does this sort of thing every day in his backyard (and maybe he does).

Critics Pass Away is available at eMusic, as is the entire Brassland stock, which includes the back catalog of the National, for whom Baby Dayliner is opening some West Coast dates.

An mp3 of The Morning Sun is available at Music (For Robots).

Related
10 questions with Baby Dayliner.
Baby Dayliner Silent Places video.