East River Pipe: Mel

East River Pipe is F.M. Cornog, a New Yorker with a history of alcoholism, mental illness and homelessness. But Cornog's music neither wallows nor revels in his dark past: Instead, he writes beautifully glistening, if melancholy, pop songs. Cornog's new Mel is filled with uncertainty and self-doubt—song titles include "I Am a Small Mistake" and "We're Going To Nowhere"—but the album itself is beautiful throughout. With glistening guitar tones and lilting keyboard lines, the songs ooze hooks as they lazily bob along. And for all of Cornog's dark battles, the very existence of an album like Mel is uplifting: He may have hit bottom, but this gorgeous, shimmering music is a tribute to his survival.