Hayes Carll — You Get it All
Grammy-nominated singer songwriter Hayes Carll is releasing his eighth album, You Get It All, on Oct. 29 (Dualtone Records). It is masterful collection of songs that shows after two decades of music, Carll just keeps getting better and has surely landed at the top of the list of singer songwriters of today.
Produced by Kenny Greenberg and Carll’s wife, singer songwriter Allison Moorer, You Get It All features songs all co-written by Carll that are both lighthearted and fun, deeply moving and meaningful, and full of mischief and wry observations.
We’ll be surprised if this one doesn’t garner the Texas troubadour a few more well-deserved awards and spots among “best of the year” lists
“Help Me Remember,” co-written with Josh Morningstar, is one of the most poignant and eloquent pieces of songwriting you will ever hear. It is a beautiful and deeply moving tribute to those living with the most devastating disease of memory, Alzheimer’s, and those who care for them. Sung from the perspective of a man who can feel his mind slipping away, it is both terrifying and comforting, almost a window into the soul of what it might be like to not remember the most basic things about yourself. Carll tells a story about driving with his grandfather when he was just 14 years old, when his grandfather stopped at an intersection in the town he had lived in most of his life, and asked his grandson where they were. The moment obviously had an indelible impact on Carll and this song is his gift to the world about a topic that devastates so many yet hasn’t truly had the attention it deserves. The lyrics are true poetry sung in the most heartfelt way. At the end of the video for “Help Me Remember,” Carll shares a public service announcement to raise awareness of this devastating disease.
If you spent any time during the pandemic listening to music, hopefully you tuned into Carll’s “Alone Together Tuesdays,” and if you did, you discovered that not only is Carll an incredible singer songwriter, he is also an incredibly gracious, accessible, and down to earth musician and person.
His pared down lyrics, honest storytelling, and wry sense of humor will make you laugh and make you cry, and sets him right up there as one of the true masters of his craft.
Opening track “Nice Things,” written with the Brothers Osborne, is a fun country ditty sung from a hillbilly female God’s perspective in Hayes’ distinctive twangy drawl and embedded with his wry humor.
Title track “You Get it All,” co-written with Craig Wiseman, is all slow drawl and spunky humor, all fun, and all truth, and all uniquely, distinctly Hayes.
“Any Other Way,” is another true Hayes fun, spirited, honky tonk number about embracing life and all its frailties and simplicities.
“Different Boats,” co-written with Adam Landry and Carll’s wife Allison Moorer, has the slow funky bluesy feel of a sultry summer evening about the differences we all have while on this same journey called life.
“In the Mean Time” is a beautiful ballad co-written by singer songwriter Brandy Clark and featuring her gorgeous vocals and beautiful harmonies between the two.
“She’ll Come Back to Me,” another single off the album, is Hayes at his Country Western best, full of his drawn out drawl and sharp-wit that is simply Hayes’ style.
“To Keep From Being Around,” is a true honky tonk shitkicker from its opening line, “Bought myself a tall boy, and some cigarettes, gonna climb in this old truck and go as far as I can get,” as he sings about holing up in a motel “one with an actual key” “to keep from being found.”
“Leave it All Behind” is another beautiful ballad with some twang,
Closing track, the beautiful “If it was up to me,” written with Sean McConnell and Moorer, laments on the changes the singer songwriter would make.
Carll has said that this album is a country singer songwriter record and all “unapologetically” him. Good. No need to apologize, Hayes. We love you exactly as you are.
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