By Robert Rodi
I miss the glory days of the protest song. Thanks to corporate ownership, these days the major labelsĀ are more interested in moving units than in moving society forward. But the fracturing of the market into a dizzying kaleidoscope has at least made it possible for possible heirs to Woody Guthrie to comeĀ up through the cracks. Chicagoās AndyĀ Metz isnāt overtly political on his new album, āDelusions,ā but heās definitely the first artist Iāve come across, outside of hip-hop, to tackle the recent epidemic of gun violence. āGuns,ā the tune in question, lashes into the macho pretensions of weapons owners withĀ scalding ridicule: āLittle Kyle thinks he needs a gun…Despite a sick pickup truck, he aināt picking up much / Ladies donāt get him, no heās just tough / So he strokes it every night, ācause itās all heās got now / The only way heās getting brain is click, click, pow.ā Metzās timing couldnāt be better; the so-called Oregon militia are basically acting out the music video for this tune. My only quibble is that a truly great protest song would have at least referenced the crisis in masculinity that produces these delusional desperadoes, and hinted at a way beyond it to a better worldā¦but for now, well done.
The rest of āDelusionsā is concerned with more personal crises. āWitnesses,ā is about people who betray their artistic impulses by settling for the numbing security of a nine-to-five jobāsomething Metz himself clearly feels intensely about (āI wonāt watch my heart break from a distance / I donāt want to be caught up in the cynicism / And I wonāt ever view my life as a witnessā). Another tune, about the breakup of a longtime marriage, begins, āThe ground is frozen and the air is dry / A modest, taupe, adobe home sits a mile high,ā and I certainly hope Metz took the day off after he wrote that line, because āmodest, taupe, adobe homeā is just a freaking brilliant bitĀ of lyric. His melodies, too, are engaging and memorable, and he has an appealingly chillĀ singing voice that heĀ put entirely at the service of his songs.Ā He also owes much to his able ensemble, which includes Ryan Birkett on drums, James Scott on bass, Sarah Blick on violin, Laura Glyda on vocals and Seth Thomas on cajón.
“Delusions” is available through Amazon andĀ iTunes, amongĀ other channels.Ā
Another Chicago singer-songwriter, Jessie Winslow, has released an EP, āBare,ā that provides an additional showcase for sparkling, evocative lyrics. āSummer of Feathers,ā the opener, is like a mission statement for the entire projectāplunging with energy and delight into the unknown: āPlaying our aces / Never think twice / Shedding our layers / We are lambs to our own device.ā On another tune, āGrandmotherās Ghost,ā she sings, ā Love me or leave me alone / I can be so ugly / Cause I’ve been telling secrets / To my grandmother’s ghost.ā Her voiceāsmall, expressive, intriguingly vulnerableāis double-tracked here, providing a compelling mirroring effect, and some subtle vocal percussion (small gasps and sharp intakes) adds aĀ tightrope-walking-over-a-breakdown aspect to the proceedings.
At first, āBareā strikes you as utterly stripped downājust Winslowās mesmerizing voice and minimalist guitar. Itās only the second time aroundĀ that you notice the beautifully subtle, supple support she gets from Alain de Courtenay on guitar, Sebastian Acosta on classical guitar, Tim Young on electric guitar, and a certain Gia Margaret whoās a jack of all hands: vocals, vox, guitar, piano, mellotron, glockenspiel. InĀ the hauntingly dreamlike āBlue,ā the melody and lyrics are at their simplest(āBlue / Like my loverās tears / Yeah, itās tearing me apartā), but when you listen again you hear the complexity and collaboration at work. Iāve never thought of minimalism as a team effort; but you canāt argue with results as gorgeous as these.
āBareā is available through Jessie Winslowās Bandcamp page.
Robert Rodi is an author, spoken-word performer and musician who has served as Newcityās Music Editor since 2014. Heās written more than a dozen books, including the travel memoir āSeven Seasons In Siena,ā and his literary and music criticism has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, The Huffington Post and many other national and regional publications.
Contact: robert@newcity.com