Bill Mallonee – Lands and Peoples

posted in: August 2015, Music Review | 0

land-and-peoplesIn the midst of what, to me, has been a bad year compared to last for new music releases ‘Lands and Peoples’ swoops in to save the day!

Bill Mallonee is Americana, I honestly can not think of anyone in the genre that has this consistent output. In my mind every bit as good as Dylan, Prine, Guthrie, Neil Young, etc. Listen to his discography, not a bad album in the giant bunch, not a bad track, not a bad riff, not a bad line. I’d put his catalog up against anyone in the genre and he’d come out on top.

His latest is a traveling album: road songs, songs of the human struggle, and the spiritual relief the good Lord brings. The listener lives vicariously through Bill’s life experience and stories through each song. Many of these songs give the feeling of the thoughts going through ones mind while on a long road trip during those quiet breaks through rural back highways when taking in Creation and the glories of God… You see the scenery and reflect on life as the country passes by at 70mph, you work things out, you remember the good, the bad, and the glorious. I need music like this to slow me down and take a breathe. This is the perfect follow up to last years ‘Winnowing’, the focus and care put into his last 6 albums is unmatched in the business. Each album is a complete thought, every track is where it should be, good start to finish. The kind of art you take some time out of your life to sit, relax, listen, and soak it in. His uncompromising soul is poured out with every line and shows him as one of the finest lyricist to ever grab a guitar on each and every album.

Here’s a very brief track by track.

1. “At Least For A Little While” is a very atmospheric and reflective opener, pulls you in for what’s to follow.
2. “Hide Me In The Darkness” has a gritty, mid tempo rocker with a Neil Young vibe, the line ‘Loves got a million faces, but only one heart’ really sticks with you.
3. “Falling Through The Cracks” is one of my favorites on the album, been humming the opening riff since it first hit me, definite Mallonee classic.
4. “Steering Wheel is a Prayer Wheel” My favorite thus far on the album, the opening line ‘There ain’t nothin like the past to remind you who you are, and there ain’t nothin’ like the present to tell you who you aren’t.’ will get you ponderin’ for a spell.
5. “String Of Days” is a beautiful sobering ballad.
6. “Sangre De Cristos” is the epitome of the Americana/Alt Country sound, so many try and fail, not the Mallonee’s.
7. “Northern Lights and Southern Cross” ‘…sometimes distractions are what serve you best, when you’re coming apart at the seams’ one of the many amazing lines that grip your soul on this number.
8. “Lands and Peoples” This song should be known across the countryside. It feels so familiar, but not forced, and completely original, a new standard for America.
9. “I’ll Swing With Everything I Got” by the time you hit this song, you realize just how amazing this album is. The title says it all.
10. “Swing It, Joe” That last stretch of a road trip, reflecting on what you’ve been through, knowing the comfort that lies ahead at home, that’s the feel I get from this one, might hit you different. The chorus will stick with you the rest of your days.
11. “Hope The Kids Make It Out” Another favorite on the album, nice driving bass line, the way I like to play. The instrumentation on this one hit me in all the right places. Would love to play this live with Bill and a drummer.
12. “It All Turns To Dust” a real heart breaker to close the album.

Highly recommend this and any of Mallonee’s albums. He is a national treasure. God bless him and Muriah and lets hope he never stops!

[2015 Independent | Purchase: billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com]

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