My Top Ten
Favorite CDs of 2024
These are
my favorite CDs
released in 2024. My tastes lean
towards Americana, roots, alt-country, and folk. In the case of close
calls, I am likely to err on the side of the lesser-known performers
who need more exposure.
I have been a big fan
of Amy Rigby's songs for decades and leave it at that. So, I've been
following along with her journey through life in song. I believe I'm
further along than she, but it's fun comparing notes.
"Hell-oh Sixty"
Twenty was funny, twenty was tough
Love, money, never enough
Twenty
Thirty was a blur: him, we, her
Thirty was work Learning who to be
Thirty
Forty was a field a field of dreams
Fifty didn't fit had to let out the seams
This new CD may be her most complete, top to bottom, best yet. I love
that she can be serious, melacncholy, and comical, sometimes all
in the same song.
"Too Old to be So Crazy"
I gave my heart away a million times
I spent my life making rhymes
And here I'm doing it again
I lost my shirt and stuck my neck on the block
Like other folks take a walk
Hello I'm doing it again
I should be kicking back
Instead of gearing up to take another crack
I'm too old to be so crazy
In interviews, Rigby has said, “Hang In
There With Me
took a couple years to get it all together, due to COVID and the
fallout and things going on in my own life. I have a backlog of songs
now that came over the course of the couple years it took to to get all
of those recorded, and a couple of the ones I recorded for the album
ended up on the cutting room floor. The main idea was
gathering songs and getting them
recorded. And certain songs attract songs that fit. I had to dump a
couple of absolute favorites as the whole process took a couple of
years with very hard life stuff intruding and what started quite dark
ended up being life-affirming.
I feel lucky to have written and recorded a lot of songs, and as long
as whatever format they’re in still exists when I’m gone, I hope I can
keep floating around in the atmosphere that way."
"Requiem"
Try your whole life to make something that matters
Chords chime, words rhyme, paint spatters
Get out the camera, take a shot you wanna capture
Madness, sadness, sunsets, rapture
Doors won't always open
That don't stop you hoping
Someday you can grab it
Like a cowgirl cattle roping
Selling makes you crazy
Giving up is lazy
Tough days got to play it
Like De Niro and Scorsese
First you get hurt
Then you get smart
We all wind up in the dirt
They say that living is an art
Hear the sound of laughter
From the Hereafter
Is it better to burn out or fall apart?
"I also think I expected to feel settled at this age. Yet my husband
and I just moved
continents. When the guy at our new local bank said, “And how long do
you plan to stay put now?” we both looked at each like, “Who knows?”
Even though moving is harder and harder the older you get, just the
sheer physical wear and tear and accumulation and sorting through of
stuff and attachments, neither of us ever feel like “This is forever”
regarding our whereabouts."
"Dylan in Dubuque"
I'm a sinner and a liar
but I do the best I can
Yeah, I'll set my self on fire
like a good song & dance man
I am shameless I am grateful, on the road to somewhere else
And sometimes I play the martyr, but I mostly play myself
And I welcome all you ravers, every straight guy needs a kook
I'm Bob Dylan in Dubuque
I'm Bob Dylan in Dubuque
"I think this album
has
a directness and catchiness to the lyrics and guitar parts that is more
an acceptance and even celebration of getting older."
Harris is a
one-of-a-kind type of performer. I've never known quite what to make of
him. In many interviews, he says he likes it that way. A few years
back, he put out an album of traditional songs sung the way he learned
them or how they were taught to him. It's worth checking that out after
you've picked up a copy of this one.
"To
the Doves"
But
I was just a
stranger, you're better off this way
Why
bear the pain of
losin' the one you love?
So
go on, forget I
ever came, forget you knew my name
And
let's leave the
mourning to the doves
According to Harris
the strange title comes from his feeling identification:
"I've always found
it funny that there's high rise condos and the skyline of
Nashville is skyrocketing with luxury apartment buildings and there's
this giant stanky, toxic pile of the scrapyard that's right in the
foreground of it."
"Trash
Fire"
In
debts and fret,
and I don't care
'Cause
someday all
the kids'll say
"There's
a
honky tonkin' legend from back in the day"
And
I'll sell out
coffee houses everywhere, oh
Chorus
And
like a trash
fire ragin' at the scrap metal yard by the highway
It
keeps burnin'
against their will
Lord,
I might take
up some time, but you know I'm gonna do it my way
The
world keeps
turnin' and I stand still
"I think it sort of
catches people off guard and also keeps me honest. The album doesn't have so much
to do with me at the end of the day. It's more of a rounded picture of
everybody's human experience."
"Charms
and Letters"
Ain't
it funny how
certain things seem clearer
When
you watch 'em
in a rearview mirror gettin' small
There's
ghosts
you mind to leave behind
But
there's
the living you didn't mean to lose at all
I
took all my
heartaches, some broken dreams
And
ran away too
fast for even me
And
these days I
ain't sure if I'm tryin'
To
be remembered for
fast livin' or slow dyin'
Chorus
And
you can live
vicariously through me
And
all them
postcards I send home
You
say I might die
recklessly out here
But
you will
remember me through song
And
just say,
"He knew nothing much, of nothing else
A
boy could do to
leave a memory of himself"
"I was vagabondian" he
said. "I hoboed around on trains a lot, riding freight trains, which
was incredibly exciting and romantic."
He roamed all over, hitchhiked a lot, lived on the Navajo reservation
in Arizona, stayed in Minnesota for a bit, and traveled all over the
West Coast and Southwest. After over a decade of living
transcendentally, Harris decided to prioritize music and moved to
Nashville. "I lived that life ... very idyllic and idealistic in its
own way," he said. "I'm sure, at a certain point, I would have outgrown
those conditions a little bit."
"In my opinion, it
doesn't legitimize the music I make or make it more authentic, but it
gives me a unique perspective as a songwriter," he said.
"It's just a different perspective — it's not a better one."
"Long
in the Tooth"
I
knew a young man
with a head full of fire
Tear
it down, cut it
up, boys, he just couldn't tire
He
wrote his own
story and he lived it out loud
But
it's come to the
end now and it ain't working out
[Chorus]
Maybe
I'm living in
a time out of mind
I
got the feeling,
but I ain't got the fight
And
maybe I'm
gettin' a little long in the tooth
To
go out running
'round chasing down yesterday's truths
“Some
artists want to make perfect, period-correct records,” he said. “I want
to make something timeless.”
"Write
It All Down"
I
had a girl, called
her Memphis Magnolia
She
worked at the
bar swingin' 'round on a pole
I
weren't no gent,
she weren't no lady
I's
her good old
mule, but my heart caught the Katy
Coulda
done worse
and she coulda done better
Write
it all down in
one last love letter
“I
feel like I’m finally taking my stride of where all my influences meet
together. It’s still a sphere called country music, but the old-time
and punk rock and everything are all fair game now.
Visitor by John Moreland
Moreland has been a
consistent presence on my Top Ten lists over the last decade or so
(2013, 2017, 2020). He has always been an impressive song crafter and
versatile performer, but this one caught me by surprise as it did many
other fans. After some caustic online reviews of his recent albums,
often because of his experimentation with electronic sounds
and machinery and some social media attacks about his weight, Moreland
decided to take some time off from the road and from the internet in
general, He and his wife put their smartphones away and opted for
simple flip phones for making voice calls of all things.
This new album, Visitor, was dropped without any
announcement or fanfare.
"Visitor"
There
was a time I
thought I could make the pain stop
I
ran every way but
forward, I made a flood out of a rain drop
And
you don't know
how much I've been thinking 'bout you
Well,
you still got
your nostalgia, and I got my wandering mind
[Chorus]
I
am a visitor
Everywhere
I go, I
am a visitor
Well,
I don't need
much
But
a healing touch
I
am a visitor
“At the end of that year, I was just like ‘Nobody call me’. I needed to
not do anything for a while and just process,” Moreland says.
"Ain't
Much I Can Do
About Ii"
Some
days, you're
gonna have to shed a tear
Some
days, you're
swinging from the chandelier
But
there ain't much
I can do about it
Well,
there ain't
much I can do about it now
Some
people go, some
people stay
Turns
out you're
gonna hurt either way
And
there ain't much
I can do about it
No,
there ain't much
I can do about it now
“I recorded it in my
living room, with help from my wife, Pearl Rachinsky. I wanted to make
a natural sounding folk-rock record. Simplicity and immediacy felt very
important to the process, so I knocked out the tracking in about 10
days, playing every instrument on the album myself, save for one guitar
solo (by John Calvin Abney)."
"The
More You Say.
The Less It Means"
In-between's
where
you were born
With
all your little
heartstrings torn
There's
nothing
wrong with in-between
The
more you say,
the less it means
Some
folks stay, and
some folks go
Some
folks say, and
some folks know
The
distance between
then and now
Is
gonna catch you
anyhow
“That was scary as
hell,” Moreland says. “People don’t really know for
sure exactly why it happens, but it seems to be a stress response. I
was just kind of losing my mind and in the worst mental shape I’ve ever
been in. I knew I couldn’t do anything else ’til I was ready.”
"The
Future is Coming
Way too Fast"
The
souls are
filling up the streets
Burning
with a holy
heat
But
we don't
breathe, and we don't rest
We
just choose the
lie that feels the best
So
leave the banners
at half mast
Until
nature takes
thеm down at last
The
future it is
coming fast
The
futurе it is
It warms my heart to
hear a new Chris Smither record. He has been one of my all-time
favorite songwriters for almost as long as I have been collecting
music.
This new one is up to his usual high standards.
"Well, it's one of
those things that gets harder and harder to ignore the closer you get
to it. When you start to realize that you're closer to the end of your
life than you are to even the middle, all these things that at one time
seem sort of theoretical become quite real," Smither says about turning
80 years-old.
"Completion"
Looking
back, when
you can trace the tracks of every step you've taken
It
only looks all
planned because you never scan all the steps forsaken
But
look ahead now
and tell me what you see
Not
so clear, and if
you think like me
You'll
simply take what comes and forego anticipation
So
look ahead now
and tell me what you see
Not
so clear, and if
you think like me
You'll
simply take what comes and forego anticipation
"The funny thing about
the pandemic is that if you’d told me that I was going to be idle for a
couple of years, I’d have told you that I’d have two albums written by
then. But I didn’t write anything! Then when things started opening up
again, I said, 'Okay, do I have another one in me?' I said, 'Yeah!'"
"Digging
the Hole"
It's
hard to give
instruction
To
a fool for
self-destruction
That
got a shovel in
his hand
Diggin'
to beat the
band, a big production
He's
bound and
determined for the bottom
And
he cain't quit
diggin' that hole
"I started thinking
about this basic problem between God and the devil since I was about
10, I think. It's just something I felt like putting into a song."
"If
Not for the Devil"
Well,
speakin' of
the Devil
You've
got to give
the Devil his due
Oh,
he's down in the
details
Quotin'
scripture
from his point of view
He
says, "The
Lord knows He needs me
But
He don't want to
believe it's true
"I'm amazed, the
songs are like my children. They grow up and go out into the
world, and it's amazing to see them come back home to brag
about what they've been up to. I love it. I'm happy
for them, and I approve of the friends they've made."
"Calm
Before the
Storm"
Easy
does it,
darlin'
Let
the good times
roll
Many
a mile to go
before you close your eyes
And
rest your weary
soul
Savor
all the
laughter
Outside,
the dark
clouds form
No
one knows what
will come after here tonight
In
the calm before
the storm
"I haven't quit’ he
says. ‘So, when people say, ‘Well, you’ve got to do another
one, I don’t answer either way. I just say ‘Well, we'll see.’"
Casey Donahew has a
style all his own, distinctive in a way that I always know when he's
singing one of his songs. Its somewhere between canned radio
country, rocky roots music, and both country and western. This
album is almost a double album with 17 songs.
He has
carved out a sizable niche for himself simply just by doing what he
does best and doing it with authenticity. That unwavering trait is what
his fans respond to and come back for time and time again.
"Never
Not Love You"
But
if you do what's
right
You
know it'll break
my heart
If
I don't hold on
tight
I
might fall apart
But
if we reach for
the light
We
can make it
through
No
matter where you
go
I'll
never not love
you
Do
you still think
about the way that we made love
I
fell apart, push
came to shove
And
I know you
needed to hide
It's
not safe by my
side
Still
wish my hands
werе lost in your hair
I'm
in our bed and
you're not therе
I
wake up all alone
and this house it ain't a home
“I don’t write in
themes or think about that when I go to make an album, I just write
what I feel, and I do it at my own pace and I don’t like to rush
things. If I write a song and get it to the place where I feel
like it’s finished, then I record it. I just try to put out
good songs, whether it’s cowboy songs or love songs or heartbreakers or
rock songs or sad songs or happy one. I just try to do good songs.”
"Chasing
a
Dream"
Tougher
December I
can't remember
Drew
a high hopping
bronc, and I got bucked off in Denver
And
I keep chasing
this dream that just keeps on riding away
Down
these
never-ending black tops
Full
of dive bars
and truck stops
Whiskey
and pain,
and girls with no names
8
seconds ain't long
it's just this game that we play
And
I keep chasing
this dream, that just keeps on riding away
For Casey, lyrics have
always been king, whether he was singing about colorful, zany
characters that might live down the street or come to Thanksgiving
dinner each year, or the gut-wrenching devastation of something as
serious as addiction.
"Whiskey
to Work"
I
put that whiskey
to work
I
take that bourbon
to church
Baptize
me in Beam
I'm
a drinking
machine
Kentucky
so good it
hurts
It's
been quenching
my thirst
I'm
sweating 90
proof right through my shirt
I
put that whiskey
to work
“I think I’ve evolved
a little bit over time with my writing,” he admits. “I put more thought
into it, which may be a detriment sometimes…I’ve had discussions with
other artists about that. Sometimes I think I’m trying to be too
clever, and I have to remind myself it’s OK to be dumb sometimes and
put out something fun -- don’t overthink it.
"Running out
of Time"
They
say nothing
stays forever
My
next day might be
my last
And
if I fall behind
I could just fade into to the past
So
I'm drinking till
the break of dawn
Living
wild and free
I'm
running out of
time to be the man I used to be
Yeah I'm running out
of time to be the man I used to be
He finds at 20
plus-years in, the things that continue to carry him through and
sustain him are the same things that brought him to the dance in the
first place – hard work and dedication to his craft.
"When
She
Kissed Me"
Now
forever ain't
long if you love someone
Thinking
back to how
this begun
It's
a ring and a
house, a couple of kids
Don't
know why you
did what you did
When
she kissed me
Ahh,
she kissed me
If Casey Donahew's
recent album was almost a double album, then Billy Strings' new one is
a full double with 20 total cuts. It took me a littel while to come
around to some guy who seemed a manufactured performer apropriating
Strings as his surname, but his music and songs convinced me of the
error in my judgment. This album is also a further extension of where
Billy has been headed, not sticking strictly on the bluegrass rails.
"Leaning
on a
Travelin' Song"
Seeing
things that
just ain't’ there
Five
hours away from
anywhere
Highway
80 way out
west
Can’t
afford to get
no rest
Bolt
of lightning up
on high
Rips
the darkness
from the sky
Behind
the wheel
where I belong
Leaning
on a
travelin’ song
“Just a couple of
weeks ago, I’m collecting these songs. I start reading the songs and
looking at the lyrics and I go, wait, well this one’s called this and
this one’s called that, and that’s about travel. And there’s two songs
about a car. And then there’s this, and it is like, this is a song
about cars and traveling and stuff. Or a record about that, you know.
So I’m just like kind of thinking about, well, what does it feel like
to be on the highway and what is music to me when I’m traveling? It’s
medicine, you know?
"Happy
Hollow"
Well
listen close
you’ll hear the call
It’s
all for one and
one for y’all
There
ain’t no time
to weep and wallow
Down
on Happy Hollow
As
the years keep
flying by
Still
a rocky road
to roam
Like
a Sparrow to
the sky
I’ll
always find my
way back home
What’s authentic? You
know? I’m trying to not lose myself to this fucking big monster, you
know what I mean? Because, yeah, I could get a drummer and pick up my
electric guitar. I could put on a cowboy hat and join that whole
bandwagon, too. But that’s not me and it’s not true. And I’m so
grateful – so, so grateful – to have a fan base that will allow me to
just wear a pair of blue jeans on stage and play three chords and the
truth at them.
"My
Alice"
What
a terrible
shame, should he ever break down
With
me on his
trail, and so far from town
If
his brakes were
to fail, if he blew out a tire
And
I stared in the
ashes and fire
Well
John Saint Paul
is a well-known man
Of
wealth in a
skyscraper palace
He
likes his old
Cadillac prepped for long drives
I
don't like how he
looks at my Alice
I
don't like how he
looks at my Alice
“With my family, I am
constantly just trying to run away from the craziness, and that shit
just follows me, bro,” he says. “Ever since I was 19, I have been
putting my nose to the grindstone. I tried to pull everybody out of the
mud, and I thought I’d be able to save them. But we’re just a fucking
band of outlaws.”
"In
the Clear"
I’ve
had days as
black as nighttime
And
nights that
lasted years
I
spent a thousand
hours on my knees
Broke
down and
started praying
But
I was pleading
with the wind
Just
to never feel a
difference in the breeze
[Chorus]
They
say heaven
knows the road is slow
Lord
how the hell
would heaven know?
Where
am I supposed
to go from here?
How
much longеr now
before I’m in the clеar?
"To this day, I’m very
aware that when I put the hours in at home and really practice
diligently, I’ll have a much better hold on things when I’m back out
there onstage, and because of that, I can bring even more joy to
people. And it’s because I’m warmed up; it’s directly because of all
the practice that I’m able to play as freely as I do. It’s not just for
technique’s sake alone."
"I used to think that
I wrote my best songs when things were difficult or painful for me, but
lately I’m aware that I’m playing better and much more freely than I
ever used to, and it’s because I’m just in a better place in my life."
Alright, so this one
actually is a double album, or maybe two CDs in the same
container. I'm onboard. The more Michael McDermott the better.
He's had albums in my top tens in 2012, 2016, 2018, and 2020.
"Gonna
Rise Up"
Sometimes
I feel
myself falling
Searching
for the
face of God
Sometimes
I hear
voices calling
Telling
me I’m a
fraud
Sometimes
I hear
distant laughter
With
weightless
wings we come and go
What
are these
things we chase after
That
seem to haunt
us so
“I
guess it’s always been a bit of a balancing act, my multiple
personalities,” says
McDermott. “One of my personalities grew up
listening to early Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Odetta, traditional Irish
music, and Tom Waits. The other one was raised on The Stones, The Who,
Van Morrison, and U2. My songwriting varies wildly, to sometimes great
effect and other times a seemingly incoherent array of songs that never
find homes on my albums. This time I thought I’d lean into both, make a
quiet record and a loud one.”
"A
Head Full of Rain"
Do
grey days make
you blue
When
your heart is
overcast
When
everything is
falling through
Know
that the storm
will never last
When
you got a head
full of rain
Sometimes
it’s easy
to drown
When
all you seem to
see is pain…remember
There’s
blue right
above the clouds
It’s
sunny every day
It’s
just sometimes
the clouds get in the way
It’s
sunny every day
Don’t
let them steal
your light away
There's
quite a bit of travel and worldliness in this cross section of songs.
"FCO"
Woke
up in Rome
Went
to sleep in
Chicago
Strayed
so far from
home
Lived
at the bottom
of a bottle
So
many nights spent
alone…
When
my soul was
feeling hollow
Still
so far I roam
But
these maps are
hard to follow
So
far we’ve come
This
battle’s far
from won
And
the last few
miles are the longest ones
I
stopped counting
the times
That
I fell right on
my face
Or
the list of
crimes
That
I can’t seem to
erase
Was
going out of my
mind
With
all that we
have laid to waste
Trying
to leave
behind
The
ghosts that we
still chase
McDermott
says: “There are always leftovers at my table, but this creative
expansion allowed for a wider variety of songs to find a place, and
hopefully to great effect.”
"Lost
Paradise"
You
said, “How I
wish we were younger
Back
then we seemed
so brave
These
days, I wish
we were stronger
Than
the way we
behave”
I
said, “Somewhere
over the rainbow,
I
know there’s a
place for you and me.”
You
said, “Wouldn’t
it be pretty, wouldn’t it be nice
But
you never step
into the same river twice
It
can change in a
moment, in a roll of the dice
But
you never step
into the same river twice
Backbone by Kasey Chambers
This is another
fantastic collection from Chambers. There's reflections on family, the
future, and the spirit needed to get there.
"Backbone"
(The Desert
Child)
Oh
my backbone take
me back home
Wherever
you are
tell 'em my star will leave the
Light
on
Oh
my backbone
harder than stone
Imma
go east, imma
go west, imma come home
Well
they call me
the desert child
I
was born out in
the wild
Ain't
never been
lost to the Southern Cross
With
a heart that
runs a mile
"I
wrote the song for Arlo’s birthday, and it was his birthday going from
from 12 to 13. So it’s a big change, because he’s a teenager now. He’s
like a little boy one day, and the next day he’s this cool teenager
that doesn’t need me anymore. Obviously when I wrote it, I
wanted to write it for him, but it ended up very clear as I started
writing it, I realized it was a song for me and a song for every mama."
"Arlo"
Arlo,
your heart may
skip like a stone
Time
is a vulture,
my how you've grown
Arlo
I coulda done
better I suppose
You
drink from the
tap and you sleep in your clothes
Where
is the monster
that lived under your bed
You
packed him in a
box and you erased him from your head
Sometimes
I see the
little boy when you fall asleep
But
I think we might
have lost him in a game of hide and seek
"This
song sets up this album and
how I feel. I don’t care if people skip it even because it’s too long.
"A
New Day Has Come"
When
the road has
gone dark
I'll
shine on your
trail and show you the way
When
the river runs
dry
I'll
pray for the
rain to wash away your pain
And
if you get lost
I'll
lead you back
home, won't leave you alone
When
the wind blows
From
right where you
stand, come take my hand
[Chorus]
I'll
be your
pilgrim, I'll walk through the canyon
I'll
rise up each
day like the sun
I'll
be your anchor,
tied to the harbour
As
the light of the dawn has begun
We
are the morning
A
new day has come
"I’m
not saying everything’s perfect or anything like that. But it was a
really beautiful celebration of where we’ve gotten to in a divorce. And
I think people often put more effort into a marriage, and then once
they divorce, they go, “Well, everything should just fall into place.
And if it doesn’t, then I’m just going to be fucking angry and pissed
off for the rest of my life. And I actually think we’ve put some hard
work into it, you know, like making sure that we have a really
successful divorce."
"The
Divorce Song"
The
promises turned
into prisons
On
either side of
the divide
It
was til death do
us part
‘Til
we knew our
hearts had already died
It’s
a long road to
get to the gold
We
made it through
paper and wood
We
couldn't survive
as the marrying kind
But
we do divorce
pretty good
Kasey has also put out
a book as a companion to the new album, Just
Don't Be a D**khead, and other Profound Things I've Learnt, but it is more of an
expansion on some of the themes than a guide to the songs.
Higher by Chris Stapleton
“When I found out that
there was this golden job where someone would
pay you to sit in a room and make up songs…I thought, Man, that’s the
greatest job in the world.”
"What
am I Gonna Do"
What
am I gonna do
When
I get over you?
What
am I gonna be
When
you're
just a memory?
What
am I gonna
drink
When
I don't have
to think about what I'm gonna do without you?
Been
drinkin'
everythin' on that shelf
Feels
like I'm
killin' myself
You're
gone and it
hurts like hell
Wishin'
I was
anybody else
“I didn’t have to go
to rehab, but from a 45-year-old-man health perspective, a doctor’s
gonna look at me and go, ‘Hey, man, probably cut out the drinking,’ and
I’d be like, ‘Okay, cool.’ ”
"The
Bottom"
Love
is a mystery
It's
a tricky thing
It's
more than a
word
More
than a ring
When
the right thing
turns to wrong
Turns
into a
lonesome song
And
everybody knows
how it goes when it does
[Chorus]
The
bottle holds the
whiskey
The
whiskey holds
the man
The
man holds the
bottle when it's all that's left
And
the left hand
lights what the right hand holds
The
smoke can't hide
what the heart regrets
'Cause
the heart
holds the memory
And
the memory holds
thе past
And
the past holds
the woman
At
the bottom of thе
glass
So
I don't have a
problem
If
I don't see the
bottom
“She’s my barometer on
songs,” Stapleton says. “Even if your wife wasn’t heavily involved in
your career, if you’re happily married and you want to stay that way,
you don’t want to sing things that your wife hates.”
"Think
I'm in Love
with You"
Baby,
do you ever
wonder
Whatever
happened
way back when
Or
if I'll see you
again
And
maybe if you
ever wonder
Aw,
you might wish
things could change
I
know this might
sound strange but
[Chorus]
I
think I'm in love
with you
I
didn't know it at
the time
I
know what I wanna
do
It's
makin' me lose
my mind
I
thought about
thinkin' it through
And
every time I do
I find
I
wanna make your
dreams come true
I
think I'm in love
with you
I'm
in love with you
“I’d be lying if I
said that I don’t like going out and playing a show to a full house of
people. Especially when you’ve played for no people. That’s the drug,” he
says. “But to be famous for the sake of being famous…. That was never..."
"Mountains
of My Mind"
There's
a
destination,
I've
gotta wait to
go
There's
a revelation
that
I might never
know
Somewhere
salvation
is
waitin' down the
road
[Chorus]
So,
I think I'll
find a long white line
Curse
the world and
leave it all behind
I've
been tryin' all
this time
I
still can't climb
the mountains of my mind
Laura Rogers and Lydia
Slagle are
the Secret Sisters, but it's not much of a secret anymore. In the past
decade or so, they've garnered grammy nominations and other awards.
(They appeared in my Top Tens in 2014 and 2020.) They bring a
fascination mux of harmonies and are not afraid to experiment with
their distinctive sound while maintaining a consistent, often haunting
presentation.
"Lydia showed up to
most of our writing sessions and recording sessions with these
out-of-left field musical and sonic inspirations. They were out of our
comfort zone but really fun to dabble in. We wanted to do stuff that
was a little bit out of the box, " says Laura Rogers.
"I didn’t think of
this record as a collection of love songs because that’s not how we
approached it. But when we came back at it, we saw that it is a
collection of love songs, but of course it’s so much more than just
romantic love."
"I
Can Never Be
Without You Anywhere"
Sun shines in and
the baby's cryin'
She's
just too young
to fight the tears
I
recall it all
anytime I'm flyin'
But
I'm just too old
to count the years
Now
you tremble like
a river churnin'
You're
made of
secrets I could never know
Makin'
memories
while the wheels are turnin'
They'll
carry you to
places I can never go
“We've had our ups and
downs,” Laura says in our Zoom interview. “We've had our moments of
tension and disagreements and not getting along well. But ultimately,
you know, we actually do work really well together. Somehow, we always
managed to keep peace and find a way back to a place of cooperation.
"Planted"
Sometimes
flowers
grow in springtime
Sometimes
in the
fall
Some
will grow only
to wither
Some
won't grow at
all
But
you are planted
right beside me
Intertwined
beneath
the ground
And
the wind is just
a breeze
Whenever you're around
Come
what
may, nightfall or daylight
Still, I
will be
planted by you
I
don't know if I
will ever be as bright as you
You
could reach the
tallest tree
While
I'm just
pulling through
“There are definitely
still moments of frustration and anger on this album, but there’s also
a little more light,” Rogers adds. “I think a lot of that came from
getting older, and from letting go of the pressure we put on ourselves
in the past. We finally reached the point of saying, ‘Let’s just write
the songs as honestly as we can, and trust that they’ll reach whoever
they’re meant to reach.’”
"Same
Water"
I
start on the
ceiling
End
on the ground
There's
no
in-between
At
least that l've
found
On
the days I
remember
What
is always
untrue
Looking
for a light
That
I can hold onto
Balance
out my
chemicals
And
erase my recall
Mind
or man or
medicine
I
have tried them
all
So
how is everybody
doing out there?
Are
you spinning
round, lost and found
Do
you feel it too?
Is
there even
anybody out there?
We're
all drowning
in the same water as you
“In our previous records there
was a feeling that we had something to prove, but now we’re leaning
toward a place of peaceful acceptance and trying to stay immersed in
the present,” Slagle says.
"Bear
With Me"
I'm
not over you
just yet
There
is nothing I
regret
Except
the time that
I'm trading
The
days I feel us
fading
I
just need to hear
you say
That
we're gonna be
okay
And
that you'll bear
with me
That
you love me in
my skin
And
you'll bear with
me
Till
I know myself
Honorable Mentions:
Roll It Out by The Deslondes
American Primitive by Old 97s
The Fear of Standing Still
by American Aquarium
The Universal Fire by Jeffrey
Foucault