Picking a favorite Bill Mallonee album is like trying to pick which kid you like better. Actually it might be even harder than that. Mallonee’s staggering output is equaled only by the quality of what he releases. Kid Heart is the 11th WPA Volume that Bill has finished and released. The WPA’s are an ongoing series that Bill releases in a download only format and are basically EP’s of 4 to 6 songs that the listener can download and see what Bill is up to at that point in time. He also culls the tracks that are his favorite to give them the full studio treatment at a later date. These are full band releases with Bill and Muriah playing all the instruments, guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, harmonica and the accordion at times. This latest installment, Kid Heart, is in my opinion the best to date. I probably say that every time another one comes out, but this one struck me musically and lyrically in a different way. The first song Grind rolls out with the lyric, “paint me a picture…one with blood and steel”…that hooked me right in to one of Bill’s lyrical stories that cover the everyday man, the middleclass blue collar worker that struggles in the factories, the fields and inside of themselves as they fight for their dreams in a world that set the rules around us.
Every track on here is a stand up and stand out song lyrically, and it is great to hear that harmonica whistling and winding its way through the songs as soon as they start playing. Bill’s music paints a picture that I think the ‘everyday man (and woman)’ can relate to…the struggle to maintain, the integrity to stay honest above the fray and the hope that always lies on the horizon; that promise that there is always a miracle waiting behind that next page, that next ring of the phone, the next chord of a new song and the promise and prospect of that new album. Bill is one of a kind, his music is a friend and companion, and it consistently reminds me of the best in this life and the promise of a new one.
[2011 Independent | Purchase: billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com]
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