MJ Lenderman Manning Fireworks Anti
North Carolina-born singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman's output would have been pitched into the Alt-Country pigeonhole in the 1990's. In a time often dominated by singer-songwriters pouring their hearts out in the overcrowded Americana camp, Lenderman's quirky and often dark songwriting is a breath of fresh air. MANNING FIREWORKS is the fourth album from the multi-instrumentalist and former drummer with the band Indigo De Souza.
Credited with most of the instrumentation and with a cracked vocal technique that has nods in the direction of Jason Molina, the album's ten tracks skip between grunge-laced melters like the excellent She's Leaving You and Wristwatch and the more countryfied Joker Lips and the title track. He offers a shoulder to lean on in the empathic Rip Torn ('Guess I'll call you rip torn, the way you got tore up') and appeals for a similar sentiment in You Don't Know The Shape I'm In.
His lyrics are filled with pangs of guilt and helplessness, as seen in On My Knees with Crazy Horse-styled driving guitars, and the album closer Back At The Moon signs off on a less than upbeat note ('I've lost my sense of humor, I've lost my driving range. I could really use your two cents babe, I could really use the change').
Lenderman's youth was marked by notions of joining the priesthood, a fact that is reflected in his music. The album's tangled lyrics in tracks like Joker's Lips and the title track are peppered with religious references, adding a deeper layer of meaning to his music.
If Lenderman's well-received 2022 album BOAT SONGS was a taster of a left-of-centre artist with endless potential, MANNING FIREWORKS more than lives up to the hype that album generated.
Declan Culliton
Marcedes Carroll We Lost Track of the Stars Self-Release
Abandoning her career in the biomedical industry almost a decade ago to follow her true vocation as a professional artist, Marcedes Carroll’s latest recording is her first full-length album, following the release of two mini-albums in 2019 and 2020. The Rockies-born artist's former life included serving as vocalist and rhythm guitarist with rock band Drink Me Pretty, before launching a solo career that has found her performing at shows and festivals alongside Jackson Browne, Sunny Sweeney, Lucero, Marcus King and many more.
WE LOST TRACK OF THE STARS was recorded at Basecamp Recording Studio in Bozeman, Montana, where Carroll resides. She used local players for the recording and called on multi-instrumentalist Scott Davis (Hayes Carll, Jason Eady, Kelly Willis) to co-produce the album with her.
A throwback to previous decades, Carroll's honeyed vocals, the slick supporting instrumentation and chorused backing vocals bring to mind the classic country crossover sound of Patsy Cline on Right On Time and Am I On Your Mind. Also included is a cover of Willie Nelson's Crazy, popularised by Cline in 1961. Old Fashioned Feat is an eloquent duet with Robert Henry that tips its hat toward Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. No country album would be complete without a number of tearjerkers and the lonesome and lamenting Nothing Never Leaves, and Stars tick that box. The more upbeat and toe-tapping Crooked Nail finds Carroll open-heartedly proclaiming her love of her home state of Montana.
Carroll's latest recording easily fits into the treasure chest of country albums being recorded by women in 2024. There's nothing wildly original about it, and Carroll did not intend to reinvent the wheel with this record. It's simply another noble effort at keeping real country music alive and, in that regard, she has passed the test with flying colours.
Declan Culliton
Noeline Hofmann Purple Gas La Honda
Southern Alberta, Canada-based Noeline Hoffmann's background includes herding cattle across the Canadian prairies, together with her time working and playing in honky tonks. Her debut six-track mini album PURPLE GAS is an introduction to a twenty-one-year-old that most certainly earns the platitude of 'one to watch.
With thirty million sales to his credit, Zach Bryan was so taken by Hofmann's song Purple Gas that he included a duet with Hoffman on his 2024 record, THE GREAT AMERICAN BAR SCENE. Hofmann includes an acoustic delivery of the song on this album, showcasing her crystal-clear vocals backed by ace fiddle playing. A further pointer to her rising star is her recent string of dates supporting fellow Canadian Colter Wall, which follows similar slots opening for Charley Crockett and Wyatt Flores.
On the evidence of this record, Hofmann's foot is firmly on the country music pedal, but her sound is far from anything formulaic or mainstream. She brings a fresh perspective to the genre, evident in the belting barroom honky tonker Lightning In July (Prairie Rising) and the more relaxed August. Her ability to seamlessly shift tempos, as seen in the flowing rocker Rodeo Junkies, is noteworthy. The other two tracks, the pedal steel-laced One Hell Of A Woman and the gorgeous love ballad, The Way You Bring Me To Tears, further showcase her versatility and unique style.
It has been a whirlwind year for Hofmann, from relative obscurity to touring with seasoned frontrunners in the resurgent traditional country scene. If PURPLE GAS is just a taster of what Hofmann has in her cannon, she is bound to join that crew of household names before very long.
Declan Culliton
Peter Bruntnell Houdini and The Sucker Punch Domestico
Described by Rolling Stone magazine as 'One of England's best kept musical secrets,' Peter Bruntnell has continued, over nearly three decades, to release an album every couple of years. Among those fourteen records, nothing even approaches the description 'average.' Alongside his studio output, his live workload as a solo artist, with a full band and numerous duo and trio combinations, is continuous.
Bruntnell's latest ten-track record, HOUDINI AND THE SUCKER PUNCH, finds him working with his long-term band members, Peter Noone (bass), David Little (guitar) and Mick Clews (drums). Other contributors include Jay Farrar and Mark Spencer of Son Volt, a band very close to Bruntwell's heart and one with which he toured the U.S. in 2022. Another notable contributor is pedal steel supremo Eric Heywood, who has worked with numerous household names, including Jay Farrar, The Jayhawks, Gretchen Peters and John Doe, to name but a few. Also credited on the album is Bruntnell's close friend and member of The Pretenders and The Rails, James Walbourne.
Bruntnell's unique musical expertise lies in his ability to seamlessly combine classic 60s Brit Pop with the U.S. bands of the same era, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, and from more recent times, REM and Son Volt. These influences are particularly pronounced on this album, which will no doubt result in it being lazily pigeon-holed in the over-crowed and ever-expanding Americana genre. In my opinion, this does not fully do it justice, but that’s another discussion.
The title and opening track, with its sweeping melody and rich pedal steel, sets the stage for the ten-track journey that follows. Lyrically, it delves into the inner thoughts of a great escapist or is possibly a self-reflection by the author on missed opportunities and emotional baggage. No Place Like Home evokes the classic jangly country pop of many gems written by Gene Clark in his heyday as principal songwriter for The Byrds, and that band's more psychedelic output is mirrored in Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Though initially inspired by the story of an Indian boy running buffalo off a cliff in Wyoming, the latter morphed into a reflection on the trials of travel on the London Underground. The album also features more conventional and autobiographical lyrics in the form of the gorgeous love ballad Sharks and the self-deprecating Out In The Pines.
I may hear a better song this year than Stamps Of The World, but I doubt it. A personal highlight for this writer, it’s a stunningly melodic break-up song all the more emotive for the inclusion of aching pedal steel throughout. The Flying Monk is classic power pop, and he signs off with the sad slow burner Jimmy Mac, which brings to mind another outstanding U.K. songwriter, Roy Harper.
In an era of ever-shrinking attention spans, hopefully HOUDINI AND THE SUCKER PUNCH will reach the audience it truly deserves. It stands shoulder to shoulder alongside Bruntnell's finest works and is sure to be cherished by his loyal fanbase. Yet, I also hope it will find its way into the hearts of those who are just discovering the magic of Peter Bruntnell's music and by doing so draws their attention to his splendid back catalogue.
Declan Culliton
Benjamin Tod Shooting Star Self-Release
As frontman and songwriter for The Lost Dog String Band, previous albums from Benjamin Tod were more in the acoustic and folk tradition. As this is the first of his albums to be sent for review to Lonesome Highway, this is a good place to start appreciating his music. The album was helmed by Andrija Tokie a well-respected producer/engineer who veers toward an analog sound in the studio, The Bomb Shelter, where he works with many noted independent and upcoming artists, including previous clients Margo Price, The Deslondes and Hurray for the Riff Raff. A select team of fifteen-plus players were involved, including Dennis Crouch, Chris Scruggs, Jack Lawrence, Jeff Taylor, Billy Contreras, Dave Racine and John James Tourville on numerous stringed instruments. Also, there were a number of backing vocalists, with Sierra Ferrell, Timbo, and John R. Miller included among them. So, it was something of a stellar gathering that was there to do justice to the traditional country-encompassing songs of Tod.
At a point in his life Tod, who proclaimed himself in the past a “proprietor of misery,” this album comes to terms with a more positive outlook on his life and times. Not always a good thing as a basis for songwriting, it has been observed in the past, and here Tod’s path is not entirely taken on the sunny side of life either. Not that all these songs are necessarily steeped in sadness and heartbreak, as they have a genuine sense of empathy and positive involvement in the main. By all accounts, Tod has lived through difficult and soul-searching times that has made his music authentic and an honest statement of a life lived.
The opening track, I Ain’t The Man, is taken from the standpoint of a somewhat volatile person with a strong sense of self and warns others that their perception may not be the right one. “I’ve been nice and clean for 90 days / But don’t the poke the wolf inside his cave / I can flip the script with a slight of hand / Lord I ain’t the man you think I am.” This songs harks, sound wise, back to a much earlier time with the steel guitar and guitar behind Tod’s incisive vocal. The world keeps on turning theme, one that has been explored in the past, is prevalent in Saguado’s Flower, with its opening verse realisation “Darling since you’ve been gone I can’t get back to where I belong / The world still spins clocks still tick and folks carry on / I’ve been sleeping alone in this hotel casket home / Me and the drunks and the fiends and the whores all awake ‘til dawn.” Back Towards The Blue also has a nice understated feel of an earlier era.
The beat picks up for dancefloor-motivated Mary Could You, with Scruggs’ twang-infused lead guitar to the fore. The title track has some baritone guitar to echo its sombre intent. Right back with some uplifting swing is the decidedly retro sound of Satisfied With Your Love, with righteous piano and guitar taking it back to the 40s. The outright star here, with its strikingly passionate vocal performance, is Nothing More. You can hardly fail to be moved by Tod’s declaration that he is nothing more than a man with all the faults that might contain. This album certainly touches on a number of different eras and locations in its examination of country music’s finest moments. Fiddle and steel are amply present on Like It Or Not. An expression of the ‘still in love with you’ sentiment, it features another top-notch vocal. In Tramp Like Me there is a wish that giving himself over to a new relationship will help him change from what us his considered trampishness to something more fulfilling.
Then we arrive at the last of the album’s ten songs, One Last Time, which features Ferrell singing a duet with Tod over a big-sounding track that uses the steel and piano effectively, as well as a muted choir in the background. Benjamin Tod has had a number of previous albums, but from the sound of this release, he has delivered one that should be recognised for his vocal and songwriting skills as well as being another contender of the very best of the year. Doubtless a shooting star with a well chosen trajectory.
Stephen Rapid
Amy Speace The American Dream Windbone
It is always a joy to receive an Amy Speace album for review and the twelve songs included here deliver one of her strongest works in a continuing run of form that has seen her last three releases achieve a stellar level of heightened excellence. This is solo release number ten in a storied career that has seen this eloquent singer songwriter mature into one of today’s defining voices in contemporary folk music.
Over her years spent in the public eye, Amy has grown from her early experiences in NYC as an aspiring Shakesperean actor to inspire others in the creative slipstream, whether through her superbly crafted music, her ability as an essayist, as a published poet (The Cardinals, 2024), or her work with the non-profit organisation Writing With: Soldiers (SW:S). She is also active as a songwriting, voice and performance teacher, in addition to producing a very successful online blog, titled InnerSpeace, and another, Menopausal Mommy, that explores the joys of motherhood. Being a mother of a young son in her 50’s presents a challenge no doubt, albeit with many more rewards than compromises, and throughout her career Amy has experienced many of the highs and lows that test our resolve as we look for a light in the distance. Hence, there is always both insight and introspection at play within her body of work.
On this new release, Amy is looking back down that road taken, at both her younger self and at the knowledge and perspectives gained from her journey. The first two songs are very much based in adolescent years of school and neighbourhood friends as puberty beckons, along with having to find a place in the world that hovers outside the cocoon of innocence. The title track, The American Dream, sees Amy as an optimistic young girl, riding her bike and enjoying endless summer days with her dreams and friends. Homecoming Queen tells the tale of a school friend who had everything going for her as the popular choice to be the star of the prom. Rather than the assumption that a gilded life awaited such early promise, the girl grows up to take some wrong turns, running away to LA, marrying a drummer and ending up back home eventually, alone and ‘Twirling the straw in her Jack and Coke.’ Both songs proffer that dreams don’t always come true and if only youth could know what the future held, faced with illusions that shatter as real life elbows into the frame.
Where Did You Go introduces strings into the song arrangement to heighten the pathos of a look into early love and the damage done by hopeful dreams that get shattered by the sharp edges of life. It may well be an old boyfriend that is shutting down and pushing away but somehow I sense that Amy is reflecting on herself and wondering where she got lost; self-rumination captured in the lines ‘Waking up from the dream, Sometimes it felt so real, Playing hide and seek with memories, Hoping they won’t find me.‘ The chorus refrain is both heartfelt and sprinkled with perhaps a hint of self-recrimination too. A superbly crafted song.
In New York City follows the same theme and we find Amy ‘Impatiently wanting my life to begin’ as she documents a number of years spent trying to find herself in the Big Apple. The song captures a marriage and divorce in the narrative, moving apartments and singing her pain. The song content reflecting ‘But now I know what age does to memory, It softens the edges and everything’s blurred, It fills in the gaps with regret and romance, Am I really that many years from that girl?’ The urge to put on rose tinted glasses when looking at the past is always a danger, avoided here as Amy reflects that nothing can ever be as it once seemed. Memory cannot be fully trusted as we look back.
Glad I’m Gone is a funky blues workout and asks why we hold on so long in relationships. Hoping for change and reconciliation can create a self-imposed prison and Amy reflects ‘They say people change, you just stayed the same, I know you said you tried, but we both know you lied.’ Sometimes moving on is the only choice and this song could just as well reference pulling up her roots and moving out of NYC all those years ago. This February Day is a song about new beginnings and accepting that change is part of the cycle of life, with Amy musing ‘All my life I’ve had the urge to run away to the unknown, Instead of stay.’ Facing oneself is ultimately the one choice that we cannot escape and the song ends with the lines ‘And I wrote this song to tell you that I love you more than words could say, This February Day.‘ Are these lines directed at Amy herself; self-acceptance finally arriving with the passage of time.
As a palate cleanser, Something ‘Bout A Town is a great example of the studio musicians in full flow and the dynamic in the playing is so perfectly honed with producer Neilson Hubbard (drums, percussion), Joshua Britt (mandolins), Lex Price (bass), Danny Mitchell (keyboards) and Doug Lancio (guitars) displaying their creative instincts in playing off each other as Amy lays down a cooly knowing vocal. ‘Rolling slowly, Or moving fast, It’s the only thing that takes me all the way back.’ There is a wise old saying that “”you can’t stand in the same reiver twice” and the unending flow seems to capture the need in Amy to always be moving with her restless spirit. The next song is a slow blues and on Already Gone Amy jumps back to her early marriage that didn’t work out and her sad memory that ‘Love at first sight, Partner’s in crime, Best friends forever, Faded with time.’ Clearly the past is a place that runs parallel with the present and old memories are never truly far away. When revisiting a scenario from the past that still resonates, we often say “ It feels just like yesterday.”
First United Methodist Day Care Christmas Show is a short ditty that sees Amy as a proud Mum at her child’s school play and capturing that innocent joy of her own childhood in the eyes of her boy and the spark of glee that is spread by seasonal cheer. The following song is a real highlight and one that lays bare the urge once again to push away from intimacy and situations where a sense of suffocation is in the air. On I Break Things Amy is the protagonist who ruminates upon her inclination to disrupt ‘I hold the things I love the most then throw them so they shatter on the floor, Pick up all the pieces, try to glue them back the way they were before, I’ve done this all my life breaking vows and dishes in a rage, Tonight alone here in this house I’m lying in the lonely bed I’ve made.’ Again the string arrangements by Danny Mitchell are superbly judged and poignant in the delivery with David Davidson (leader) violin, David Angell (violin), Kristin Wilkinson (viola), Carole Rabinowitz (cello) all excelling in their crafted playing. Margot’s Wall is a song of enduring hope and the strings echo perfectly the sadness of what gets left behind, whether youth interrupted by outside forces or a distance forged by reality that unfurls ‘I moved out just yesterday, From the home we built with love, To leave an absence in my place, Once I thought we were enough.‘
The final song brings together all the past hurts and frustrations, the anger and the uncertainty, into a prayer for love to always endure. It’s a cover version of a Jaimee Harris/Graham Weber song, Love Is Gonna Come Again and the words resonate ‘I know it hurts like hell right now, and only you know how, No one can tell you when, Oh, but love is gonna come again.’ In laying to rest the ghosts of her past Amy is providing her own spirit guide to the future. The album production is quite superb with the inimitable Neilson Hubbard delivering a beautifully crafted work. He has been an ever-present influence for Amy since her fourth release back in 2011. Amy sings with such control and grace that it is a real pleasure to lose yourself in these songs. Mention also for the very talented Garrison Starr who contributes on background vocals throughout and who has appeared on previous albums with Amy. Garrison is a very gifted songwriter and a producer and both Doug Lancio and Lex Price are also producers in their own right. So much experience, knowledge and talent to shine on these superbly sculpted songs and deliver them with such loving care. Clearly there was sweet harmony at play here and all involved have created one of the albums of the year for me.
Paul McGee
Jesse Terry Arcadia Wonder
Arcadia is defined as a vision of utopia and on this new album Jesse Terry is seeking out his own version of coming to a place of harmony and contentment. The title song leads off with a strong statement from Terry and a fine production that reflects a new direction to rock things up a little bit more than on previous releases. Burn the Boats is more reflective and seeks to reach out to a friend who is out of touch and perhaps out of luck ‘And right now, if you’re longing for the smoke, Barely clinging to the ropes, Light a match & burn the boats.’
The band is comprised of Ethan Ballinger (guitars, mandolin), Ross McReynolds (drums, percussion), Sam Howard (bass), Juan Solorzano (guitars, pedal steel), and Danny Mitchell (organ, piano, keyboards). Gunpowder Days has a nice groove with guitars and keyboards playing off the deep bass line and cool drum rhythm. Poison Arrow is another guitar led slow burn with great ensemble interaction and a building power. Someone In Repair is a song that displays a vulnerable side and speaks of coping mechanisms ‘Cracks in the windows, cracks in the walls, We need a little mercy to find us all.’ It’s a beautifully sculptured song and a real standout on this album of very polished writing standards.
Native Child is a love song that speaks of having no barriers, being open and wearing no armour ‘Honey won’t you take me running, I wanna see what you see, I never really knew myself, Until you believed in me.’ A personal song that bears Terry’s vulnerability for all to see. Waiting Out the Hurricane is a song that reflects on a dangerous incident that left a mark, the band playing strongly across the up-tempo arrangement. Where You Came From slows the pace with an acoustic based reflection that ponders the great mystery and says to let it go, to not be concerned with esoteric questions. River Town rocks out with a song about honouring your roots and the love of family, with a new baby on the way and warmth to wrap around feelings of contentment.
The album has a great feel and the co-production of Terry and Dylan Alldredge really makes everything shine. Fear Of Flying is a look back down the road of doubt and a request to let go and run towards the future with optimism. Strong is a love song that says believing in someone is all that we need for a love to endure and Headlines is a song that councils to ignore the buzz of media and return to the inner source for true meaning.
This is the seventh release from Jesse Terry and he has never sounded more in control of his muse and his strong vocal delivery is ably supported by both Trey Keller and Halley Neal on impressive harmonies. Perhaps the cold reality of Covid and the end to constant touring have given space and time for reflection? It would appear to be the case as Jesse Terry has written some cracking tunes and his contentment in becoming a father for the second time is reflected in the positive content of many of the songs included here. The closing song Message From A Hummingbird sums up his sentiments with the words ‘Singing, hard times are over, the spirits are calm, The wolves have moved on from the reeds.’ It's a great album and full credit to all involved.
Paul McGee
Madeline Merlo One House Down (From the Girl Next Door) BBR
This British Columbia singer songwriter was awarded the "Rising Star" award from the Canadian Country Music Association in 2015. A debut album appeared in the following year and Merlo has been recording music on a regular basis ever since, penning a hit for Lady Antebellum with the song Champagne Night. A series of singles and an EP in 2022 (SLIDE) preceded this new 6-song EP which arrives with some fanfare.
Her sound is very much contemporary country, with a big production and a vocal delivery that displays plenty of power in the punch. All six songs included here are co-writes and her ability to write with others is an obvious strength with collaboration being a popular way to build a network and spread a message of availability to all involved. If you are looking for a signpost then you can hear a sense of a young Martina McBride in the vocal tone on certain tracks and there is no doubt that Merlo will appeal to a wide cohort of new listeners.
Broken Heart Thing is a duet with country star Dustin Lynch and it kicks things off in style. Bar Fight looks at acting out, setting personal limits and boundaries, while the superb vocal delivery on Same Car deals with the heart break involved in memories of love gone awry. The song Middle Of the Bed is very much country pop in sound and not too far away from something Little Big Town might record if they were looking for a cover song. Good Grief reflects upon how easy it can be to just give up and not keep the faith, while the final song and album title One House Down (From the Girl Next Door) looks to dispel all suggestions that the girl in question is little miss perfect ‘I wasn’t the daughter of the Joneses, but you saw the blue sky in my hurricane.’ This is a strong statement of much more to come from this talented artist and I have no doubt that we will be hearing plenty more from Madeline Merlo. Watch this space..
Paul McGee
Todd Hearon Impossible Man Self Release
A native of Fort Worth, Texas this interesting singer songwriter is quite a creative force and is the author of three volumes of poems, a number of plays and essays, and a novella. He grew up in North Carolina and is currently based in New Hampshire and has released two prior albums, Border Radio (2021), and Yodelady (2023).
On the opening song Deadman’s Cove Todd is questioning mortality and he muses ‘Soul say, Hold on, Got a whole lotta living left still to come, Body say I don’t know, Feels like a whole lotta nothing much left to go.’ It is an interesting take on the question of whether the body is indeed a suitcase for the soul. A Dark Place follows and examines whether we can ever really know somebody else and perhaps it’s best to initially focus upon getting comfortable with ourselves ‘I can show you where the buried bodies lie, Have you ever walked out of your life for a while, Would you ever like to try.’
Looking Glass is a song about the folly of youth and the chase for some imagined utopia. Todd looks back at an earlier time and suggests that ‘We were so ’nineties, It was all so Zen, Nothing to build on, Nowhere to begin.’ There are some interesting production effects on this track that leave the sense of being awoken from some bad trip at the end of the evening. Nicely done. Paper Flowers is a song about travel and expanding the mind. One is supposed to gain fresh perspective from seeing how other parts of the world fit into the cosmic jigsaw ‘Seattle gets so suicidal ’bout this time of year, And Dublin’s going under with the weight of Writers’ Tears.’ Postcards from the edge indeed.
Adeleine is a nice acoustic song played on guitar and piano, reflecting upon a love that left happy memories that stood still in time ‘Remember nights, Racing back the moon, To make it by your side, I spent a lifetime in that little room.‘ Anchorage is another song that references travel and the need to find yourself stripped of nothing but the bare essentials. It’s a nicely paced tune with some fine ensemble playing from the band that comprises Todd Hearon (acoustic guitar, vocals), Don Dixon(bass guitar, background vocals), Peter Holsapple (piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron, accordion, mandolin), Rob Ladd (drums, percussion), and Sam Wilson (electric guitar, pedal steel, lap steel, dobro, chimes).
Too Deep To Feel the Bottom is another highlight and the noir feel to the music is perfectly captured in the lyrics ‘ You’re holding out, I’m holding in, Just play the cards baby if you got ‘em, I know there’s no way I can win, I’m in too deep to feel the bottom.’ Legendary producer Don Dixon (REM, The Smithereens) does such a great job on production and his ability to draw out these songs into full colour arrangements is a spark that makes everything brightly illuminated. Todd Hearon has a fine vocal delivery also both warm and clean in the mix with his fellow players supporting the songs with impressive craft and restraint.
Looking For A Friend has some lovely pedal steel on a song that lingers in the memory, while Love Song #51 and Guillotine are love songs with different perspectives; the former including the lyrics ‘Never the light that you hoped you would see and be me, You ain’t my kind of dark but you’ll do—the one and oddly you,’ while the latter states ‘Just so you know, I didn’t keep a thing, Not a rock, not a lock, not a stocking, not a secret, not a ring.’ Breaking with the past can be both a reward and a cross to bear.
The title track has a nice melody line and is a song of hope in trying to win the charms of a fair maiden ‘I can build you a house made of rhythm and blues, Sweet nothings for nails and excuses for screws, And a nest full of eggshells for your feather bed, To lay your head.’ Extremely lyrical and often cryptic in the song meanings, I guess that the true nature of writing is to leave as much as possible open to the interpretation of the listener or indeed, the reader. My interpretation of these songs could well be wide of the mark, but the recommendation is clear - this album is a real pleasure and a joy to unravel in all its mystery and poetic charm.
Paul McGee
MJ Lenderman, Marcedes Carroll, Noeline Hofmann, Peter Bruntnell, Benjamin Tod, Amy Speace, Jesse Terry, Madeline Merlo, and Todd Hearon Music