Curtis McMurtry – The Pollen & The Rot
Austin singer-songwriter Curtis McMurtry’s The Pollen & The Rot – the first of four season-themed albums he’s releasing – is something to behold. It’s an album that pays tribute to spring, but as McMurtry puts it, is also “full of twisted, spiteful songs about greed, revolution and stagnation.”
Recorded and mixed by Evan Kaspar at Estuary Recording Studio in Austin, and mastered by Max Lorenzen at Rare Ear, The Pollen & The Rot is both dirty and pleasant, a rare achievement for a record. Full of McMurtry’s trademark “bisexual spite pop,” The Pollen & The Rot is self-aware and unforgiving. It’s both heart-wrenching and heartfelt.
The Pollen & The Rot might be an album of contrasts, but it’s not an album of duality. Both the pollen and the rot exist together. We take the good with the bad. And McMurtry doesn’t sugarcoat it. The album is dark, honest, witty and irresistibly catchy. It’s a clever concept album, keeping you guessing on the intentions of McMurtry’s devilish narrators. He inhabits villains. It’s not autobiographical – it’s playful. We all have demons, and McMurtry calls all fellow sinners. In the sultry “Devour the Divine,” McMurtry makes it clear “no outsider is left behind,” singing, “scavengers of all that’s sacred / come devour the divine.”
With Diana Burgess (cello, vocals), Jules Belmont (pedal steel), Paul Pinon (drums and percussion), Taylor Turner (bass), Sam Howden (piano), Sterling Steffen (alto saxophones, flute), McMurtry is blessed with a remarkable blend of accompanists that he arranges tastefully and theatrically, setting moods and hypnotizing listeners with an original, seductive sound, full of depraved harmonies (“Easy to Find”) and haunting tones (“Last in Line”) reminiscent of 1980s Tom Waits.
The Pollen & The Rot is the kind of album that is full of surprises, and keeps you guessing, each song unafraid to earth desires we can all relate to but often don’t like confessing. Do yourself a favor and check it out (it was released on May 31 to all streaming platforms). Listen with a mind that’s both open and in the gutter.
Highlights: “You-niverse,” “Last In Line,” “Heaven Can’t Be Better,” “Don’t Be Surprised.”
For more information on Curtis McMurtry, go to https://www.curtismcmurtrymusic.com. or here: https://curtismcmurtry.bandcamp.com/album/the-pollen-the-rot
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Curtis McMurtry’s Toothless Messiah is Eclectic Innovation
