I had this on cassette back in the day. I was so confused when I heard Running on Empty in college. I was like is this a Joe Jackson thing where there are two very different guys?
My memory ain’t so good but I do remember this being the first album that WOWed me this year. And it was a very good year from my perspective. For example, I like Kacey a lot and Deeper Well is my most listened album by her and it’s not in my top ten. (Hell I just looked and it was #15!)
Anyhow, this album demands your attention and I think as a result, I connected with it in a very spiritual way that is rare and too far between honestly. I feel the exploration and the self reflection in a way that most instrumental music doesn’t do. It was an a ha moment musically not dissimilar to the first time I heard Fugazi or Sgt Pepper or Pet Sounds or Kind of Blue. It remains a fascinating album that excites me every time I listen to it.
This is when I fully came on board with HGM. I had heard and liked Heart Like a Levee. Vinyl Den (Dualtone’s amazing Record Club before they merged with Magnolia to turn The Drew Holcomb Record Club into stale Americana Record Club) sent this record to me. MC Taylor’s optimism was important to me during the first Trump administration. He doesn’t really write political music, but it’s clear that politics inform it. He said of this album, “Love is the only way out. I’ve never been afraid of the darkness, it’s just a different kind of light, and if some days that belief comes harder than others, hallelujah anyhow.”
I've been a bit behind the curve in getting my list together and just missed the great 2024 add up in the other thread, and I see TLK used Rosali which could very well be my best of the year. And a couple others have used some of my other possibilities. So I'll go with this one that has a lot of great moments!