OR   Search for Artist/Title    Advanced Search
 
you are not logged in...  [login] 
All Reviews    Edit This Review     
Review: 'Ginger Wildheart & The Sinners'
'Lately, Always'   

-  Label: 'Wicked Cool Records'
-  Genre: 'Folk'

Our Rating:
People love Ginger Wildheart. I mean, really love him, and everything he does. The pitch for the new single, and the album it’s lifted from, their eponymous debut, out in October, is all about hope and optimism, and this is very much Ginger’s appeal: he writes good-time tunes, and the video for this jaunty-sounding single features clips of hijinks and band camaraderie on the road, and it looks and sounds like fun.

The press blurb describes ‘Lately, Always’ as ‘uplifting’ and Ginger describes it as being ‘about hope’ and the forthcoming album is pitched as being ‘an energetic album that celebrates rock’n’roll’ which Ginger explaining that it’ in “the spirit of the music that we all collectively love, from childhood to the present day. Little Feat, The Allman Brothers, Wilco, The Band, Creedence, The Jayhawks, Lone Justice, Jason & the Scorchers, Georgia Satellites, Status Quo, The Stones…from roots country to rock n roll and Americana.”.

‘Lately, Always’, Ginger says, is about a dream – “Not necessarily one that will come true but enough to have something to look forward to, especially when times seem a little hopeless.”

But this is perhaps the crux here. The jauntiness, the easy-going fun of it, is commendable, but it’s a song about light emerging from a place of dark, and while it may not be something to dwell on, for many reasons, it’s important to recognise and acknowledge that these darker currents that run deep are largely masked by sweet melodies, even when hidden in plain sight among the lyrics: ‘I’ve been drinking / I’ve been sinking ever deeper / barely getting through playing Russian Roulette with the reaper…’

As the chorus sings out with conviction, ‘I still consider this flame alive’, and this positivity is uplifting and no mistake. But it’s hard to feel that this isn’t Ginger giving himself a pep talk and convincing himself, rather than his fans, that he’s by no means a spent force.

Make no mistake, ‘Lately, Always’ is an uplifting tune which carries a message of positivity. But never mistake positivity for being ok: it can so often mask a deeper pain.

  author: Christopher Nosnibor

[Show all reviews for this Artist]

READERS COMMENTS    10 comments still available (max 10)    [Click here to add your own comments]

There are currently no comments...
----------