On reading the press release, part of me wanted to just scream "get over it already!" at SAM BAKER for an opening line about how he was on a train that was blown up by terrorists in 1986. Not taking into account that the people next to him died and he took years to recover, you can't build a career out of seeking sympathy for happenstance, no matter how unfortunate it might be. While I have been far too close to several bombs that went off in London I was thankfully never injured, which would give you a different perspective of course. But listening to the music changed my mind.
But as I'm demonstrating here, that means you end up discussing his back story rather than the music and once I'd got past the press release and started listening to this album of Pitch black dark as all hell southern Gothic folk that seems to have mired itself in the entire works of Flannery O'Connor. It's full of almost more spoken than sung lyrics full of mordant hurt and pain and being thankful for what we survive and move on from as the main character in the title track does so vividly.
The playing throughout the album is beautifully restrained while actually making John Murry seem like he is a real happy singer. How frightening and scary a song like The tattooed Woman is will depend on how you view women with tattoos and how you'd react to one in your bed. Sam makes it sound like a horror show to be honest. Still it's a lot happier than Road Crew as he rubbernecks at the scene of a horror show of an accident sung and played like Townes Van Zandt on downers. Dark despair abounds, indeed.
White Heat is more or less a film review sung-spoke with a dark despairing edge as the danger of drinking white heat becomes apparent to Poor old Jimmy Cagney. Many listeners will be unhappy they don't have a tin can of it to help get through this album.
Helpfully, my entire notes for Ditches after several listens comprise "More Misery." Thankfully, it's followed by the album's bright spot The Interlude which is a very classical music style interlude and just a stunningly beautiful piece of music before we descend back into the dark pit of despair for Isn't Love Great: especially when it's with a woman with a limp as in this song. The brass at the end is quite beautiful, though.
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I was taken aback a bit by Introduction To A Feast and Feast as it's almost upbeat and cheerful with some cool piano playing and cool lyrics about falling asleep on your wedding night and all sorts of other stuff. But don't worry, he follows it with Sweet Hour Of Prayer; sung by a woman and pretty much like it should be sung as a hymn at a funeral.
I was finding the music drawing me more and more in while I tried to not get too down but Panhandle Winter has such a nice windblown prairie feel to it I just want to watch a few episodes of Little House on The Prairie after hearing it.
Button By Button is a tune that needs to be heard to be believed as he tells us he is "stripping her button by button." It plays out to a tune that is so mordant and all round slit your wrists dark that as those buttons come undone it reveals an oddly affecting tune with some really nice piano and violin to accompany her clothes' journey to the floor. All of which just leaves Sam with time for one more sad dark beautiful tune.
This album is growing on me and once you get over how gloomy it seems, the inner beauty shines through and I have a feeling it will age quite well too. Well worth a listen as long as you aren't afraid to embrace dark, despairing music.
Sam Baker online
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