Song of the Day 3/29: Paul Melançon, “Jeff Lynne”

Sometimes a song intended as homage nails it so well it’s hard to tell it from the original. That’s the case with “Jeff Lynne,” indie pop-rocker Paul Melançon’s tribute to the Electric Light Orchestra frontman and songwriter. Melançon said the first record he ever bought was ELO’s “Out of the Blue,” and he certainly learned from it. The only way you can tell it’s this song isn’t ELO is that if Jeff Lynne were singing, he wouldn’t be singing that he feels just like Jeff Lynne.

The Atlanta-based Melançon has never enjoyed a mass audience. I discovered him when this song appeared on one of the International Pop Overthrow collections of indie power pop from around the turn of the millennium. “Jeff Lynne” appeared on his second LP, 2002’s “Camera Obscura.”

He recorded both solo and with bands over the years, and left music for several years due to depression. He last released a comeback album in March 2020, just in time for the pandemic. Melançon said he feels pigeonholed in the power pop genre, but it’s not hard to hear why on tunes like this one from 2016.