ROUTES & BRANCHES 
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
February 9, 2020
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

On a recent Facebook post, John Moreland updated friends and fans on his listening habits, directing readers to a Spotify playlist featuring some of the stuff that had been turning his wheels of late.  Alongside Tallest Man on Earth and Shelby Lynne were DaBaby, Big Audio Dynamite and Sheryl Crow.  Like a lot of artists, Moreland doesn't drive from one show to the next blasting his own records on repeat, or even always spinning the music of other performers who share his penchant for thoughtful contemporary folk 'n country.  Matter of fact, in a recent Rolling Stone piece, he admitted spending more time building loops and creating sounds on studio toys and Casio keyboards than he did writing on his acoustic guitar.

Especially since 2013's In the Throes, few musicians have resonated like John Moreland, gathering a fiercely loyal following of listeners who cite lyrics and even tattoo his words into their skin.  Here at R&B HQ, both Throes and 2015's High On Tulsa Heat found a place on our decade's end pantheon of essential records.  2017's Big Bad Luv introduced Moreland to a wider audience via 4AD Records.  With the advent of his new collection, LP5, he's back to releasing his own music.  And, for the first time in his career, Moreland is focused on sounds, songs and textures at least as much as he's attending to those celebrated lyrics.

Good News:  LP5 still features plenty of worthy turns of phrase.  More than any other artist of his generation, Moreland practices a lyrical mastery, an appreciation of the rhythms and the sounds of words:  All the gods are watching wars on television / Placing their bets and telling jokes about religion.  In that Rolling Stone interview, he also betrays some impatience with listeners who regard his verses as if they were deeply personal confessions:  It bums me out so hard when people think my songs are like a TMZ version of my life.  How's John's marriage faring?  Is the artist happy?

Well, if nothing else, Moreland is having a good time in the studio, surrounding himself with longtime friends and musical allies like bassist and vocalist Bonnie Whitmore, producer/drummer Matt Pence and sidekick/multi-instrumentalist/secret weapon John Calvin Abney.  LP5 isn't his electronic album.  It's not even Moreland's Sound & Fury (see Sturgill Simpson's 2019 project).  Rather, songs like "Harder Dreams" simply allow him to explore the sonic synapses between what's come before and what he does in his spare time.  Little by little, crisp acoustic guitar is joined by clicks and taps, unidentified elements that generate a rich percussive soundscape.  While previous records have presented Moreland fronting a fuller band, these textures make LP5 the most musically interesting, aurally engaging project of his career.  One of two instrumentals, "For Ichiro" is built on a lyrical piano passage, overlaid with watery synths and squelching beats.  Even longtime fans would struggle to recognize their hero behind the track.

None of the songs are as bare bones as Throes, or as heartland rocky as Tulsa, but Moreland has by no means lost the thread of what has made him such an entrancing artist.  We're in immediately familiar territory on "Let Me Be Understood", to the point where he even references an earlier song:  I used to walk around with shackles on my hands / Back when I still needed you to tell me who I am.  In a voice as warm and familiar as ever, he is accompanied by acoustic and bass guitar, with satisfying harmonica for good measure.  See also "In Times Between", a beautiful acoustic cut that boasts one of Moreland's most striking vocals:  I sit up in a satellite and watch the cold world spin / Well damn it all to hell, don't it mean a thing.  Even the rare blues-based number, "A Thought Is Just a Passing Train", would not be out of place on either Tulsa or Luv, even considering the rubberband keyboard solo and the tremendous guitar squall that closes out the song: Shame is a cancer / Go easy on your heart.

But what largely characterizes and defines LP5 are the moments which portray John Moreland relaxing into his less familiar means of expression, indulging his fascination for percussive loops and textures.  These aren't intrusive or redefining bits, the scratchy drum loop and barely-there keys and horns of "I Always Let You Burn Me To the Ground", for example, or the subtly thumping beats and atmospheric keys of his collaboration with Will Johnson, "I'm Learning How To Tell Myself the Truth".  He still takes to his acoustic guitar to flesh out the tracks, and it's all in service to the songs.  And whether or not we chose to read anything especially personal into them, these are genuinely introspective lyrics.  Looking backwards, all my pictures / Look like send-ups of stolen scriptures he sings on his memorial to fellow songwriter Chris Porter, "East October".  The record's first single is marked with distant heartbeats and soft bursts of sound.

The collection's most outstanding departures also stand as some of LP5's strongest moments.  "When My Fever Breaks" is a bright shining lovesong written for Moreland's wife (he said it, not me).  It's as extroverted a sentiment as you're likely to hear from the writer, and a lovely song: Star-crossed eyes and cross-eyed stars / No use hiding age old scars.  "Terrestrial" is a a standout on a CD that offers some eye-opening rhythmic choices.  Abney's keys are just this side of jazzy, and reflections are set to a syncopated, percussive soundscape.  It sounds like no other Moreland number, though the voice and the sentiment are familiar:  You gave me purpose but I could not complete the task / As a child I repented my nature, 'til as a man I repented my past.

Of course, we celebrate artistic evolution on Routes & Branches, we've built our blog on the spirit of musical discovery.  Whereas Sturgill Simpson challenged dedicated listeners to follow him on into his relatively radical new territory, John Moreland's LP5 lands as more of an organic progression.  It's a change, but it must be said that he hasn't released the same album twice during his career.  Simpson might've seemed bored and impatient, where Moreland has seemingly found a path to continued engagement.  Alongside producer Matt Pence, sharing the stage with his friend John Calvin Abney, he does no less than set the bar for the most worthy record of our early year.

- Aubrie Sellers, "Lucky Star" Far From Home  (Soundly, 20)
- Richard Swift, "Lady Luck" Atlantic Ocean  (Secretly Canadian, 09)
- James Elkington, "Nowhere Time" Ever-Roving Eye  (Paradise of Bachelors, Apr 3)  D
- Califone, "Bandicoot" Echo Mine  (Jealous Butcher, Feb 21)
- Jonny Fritz, "I Love Leaving" Sweet Creep  (ATO, 16)
- Amanda Shires, "Deciphering Dreams" single  (Silver Knife, 20)  D
^ John Moreland, "Learning How To Tell Myself the Truth" LP5  (Old Omens, 20)
- Vincent Neil Emerson, "Manhattan Island Serenade" single  (la Honda, 20)  D
- Jeffrey Martin, "Thief and a Liar" Build a Home  (Martin, 12)
- Leslie Mendelson, "If You Can't Say Anything Nice" If You Can't Say Anything Nice  (Royal Potato Family, Apr 17)  D
- Corb Lund, "90 Seconds of Your Time" Agricultural Tragic  (New West, Apr 24)  D
- Jesse Daniel, "Rollin' On" Rollin' On  (Die True, Mar 27)  D
- Western Centuries, "Lifeblood Sold" Call the Captain  (Free Dirt, Apr 3)  D
- Nora Jane Struthers, "Slow Climb" Bright Lights Long Drives First Words  (Blue Pig, Feb 21)
- Brent Cobb, "Black Creek" No Place Left To Leave reissue  (Ol' Buddy, 20/06)  D
- Pokey LaFarge, "End of My Rope" Rock Bottom Rhapsody  (New West, Apr 10)
- Christopher Paul Stelling, "Hear Me Calling" Best of Luck  (Anti, 20)
- Leslie Stevens & the Badgers, "Old Timers" Roomful of Smoke  (Lyricland, 10)
- Nathaniel Rateliff, "All or Nothing" And It's Still Alright  (Stax, Feb 14)
- David Ramirez, "Lover Will You Lead Me" single  (Sweetworld, 20)  D
- Dave Simonett, "Revoked" Red Tail  (Dancing Eagle, Mar 13)
- Lucinda Williams, "Man Without a Soul" Good Souls Better Angels  (Hwy 20, Apr 24)  D
- Drive-by Truckers, "21st Century USA"  The Unraveling  (ATO, 20)
- Chatham County Line, "Station to Station" Strange Fascination  (Yep Roc, May 15)  D
- Paul Burch, "Full About Me" Light Sensitive  (Plowboy, Apr 17)  D
- Robert Earl Keen, "Broken End of Love" What I Really Mean  (Koch, 05)
- Whitney Rose, "Believe Me Angela" We Still Go To Rodeos  (MCG, Apr 24)  D
- Logan Ledger, "(I'm Gonna Get Over This) Some Day" Logan Ledger  (Rounder, Apr 3)  D
- James Steinle, "What I Came Here For" What I Came Here For  (Steinle, 20)
- Frazey Ford, "Golden" U Kin B the Sun  (Arts & Crafts, 20)


Here's where we tip you off on new projects and forthcoming albums that were announced since last Episode.  We tend to only cherry-pick the highest profile releases in this space, though you'll find a full accounting by clicking on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster.  Jon Langford and Waco Brothers were around at the birth of alt.country, and they continue to make socially charged LPs to this day.  You can expect a collection of barbed and topical songs when Resist! hits shelves wherever music matters (Bloodshot, Feb 28).  Guitarist James Elkington has earned credits on records from Joan Shelley and Freakwater to Steve Gunn and Jeff Tweedy.  And every once in a while he saves some stuff for his own project.  Expect Ever-Roving Eye February 3 via Paradise of Bachelors.  Seattle's Western Centuries are sharing their third CD, called Call the Captain April 3 on Free Dirt Records.  There's been quite a buzz around Bay Area singer-songwriter Logan Ledger since about this time last year.  Following an EP teaser, our patience will be rewarded with a full-length, self-titled collection on April 3.  Produced by T Bone Burnett, the Rounder release also features contributions from Burnett's friends Marc Ribot, Jay Bellerose and Dennis Crouch.  From Texas by way of Canada, Whitney Rose has recorded We Still Go To Rodeos, and will be ready to give it to us on April 24.  That same day, you'll want to save room for Corb Lund's Agricultural Tragic (New West) and Good Souls Better Angels from Lucinda Williams.  Oh, and at presstime (basically Monday morning when I get around to it), Jason Isbell & 400 Unit dropped news of a new CD, Reunions, scheduled for May 15 via Isbell's Southeastern label.  

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