John Moreland Visitor
John Moreland returned to a stripped down acoustic style with his release this year, Visitor.
Pretty guitar playing opens the album on “The Future is Coming Fast,” and then, ah the sweet sorrowful vocals and the song’s message: “the news keeps steady coming in, our condition shows its teeth again, a nightmare we all thought would end, how far is it gonna go? Do we really want to know? We don’t breathe and we don’t rest, we just choose the lie that feels the best.” Moreland’s songwriting is pure and straight to the heart.
“Gentle Violence, miles of silence separating you and me / I’m a child who cannot flutter myself free. Sons and daughters, rising waters, hell is hotter, so they say. Maybe we’ll find out. If we keep living by the sword will we live another day?” A touch of campfire harmonica helps this one’s crescendo.
Speaking truth again, the next song: “One Man Holds the World Hostage” continues “for his petty satisfaction, to watch the chain reaction while he makes a redaction. One man holds the world hostage to satisfy the sickness while the ret of us bear witness, they’ll say it’s only business. Why di I keep feeling like we’ve been this way before?”
On “Will the Heavens Catch Us?” it’s “the pain is pulling you under, written into a story that’s become a bloody bar fight, heavier than god’s own holy thunder, well it’s all right, no we can’t control the daylight, will the heavens catch us when we fall?
John tells it like it is, with a merciful delivery as the bandaid is ripped off so we can consider the truth of the wound. Amidst the lyrics that cut gently straight to the chase, the guitar is easy with little licks and melodies to wrap up the delightful Americana package. See him live if you can, it’s worth the trip for the hushed catharsis he’ll bring. Visit his website for tour dates and more information: https://johnmoreland.net
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: “J.M.²”, the James McMurtry and John Moreland tour, Delighted Fans in Virginia on Monday Night
Musicians on the album are John Moreland on vocals and all instruments except where John Calvin Abney is on lead acoustic guitar, and Peal Rachinsky on backing vocals.
The album was produced, engineered and mixed by John Moreland and mastered by John Baldwin.