Melody maker Sexsmith finds serenity
Lynne album connected to unreleased film
Ron Sex smith ,“Hermitage ”( Cooking
Vinyl) Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith has been making pretty music for years, and he’s at it again with “Hermitage.”
Sexsmith’s 16th full-length album invokes the sound of solo-era Paul McCartney, both in the songwriter’s knack for inventive melody and in a voice that has always borne a similarity to the former Beatle’s gentle tenor. You can’t listen to a cut called “Whatever Shape Your Heart Is In” or the album’s first single, “You Don’t Wanna Hear It,” without hearing echoes of Sir Paul.
But Sexsmith bears another, less fortunate similarity to McCartney. A few of the cuts, most notably “Chateau Mermaid,” “Lo and Behold” and “Winery Blues,” are cloying. Not youcan’t-unhear-this cloying, like McCartney’s horrible Christmas carol, but still earworm material.
A theory here: What makes both singers susceptible to annoying you away from the good stuff is also what makes them appealing – their willingness to hunt for original melodies that might be hiding in plain sight. Both singers are adventurous enough that they sometimes hang the moon, but when they overreach, their songs can come off as precious.
Sexsmith does hang the moon more than once here. Songs like “Glow In the Dark Stars,” “Small Minded World” and “When Love Pans Out” are soothing, piano-centered ballads that add to the singer’s substantial catalog of excellent songcraft.
Sexsmith says “Hermitage” was inspired by a recent move from Toronto’s west side to the more rustic environs of Stratford, Ontario, and you can hear the aura of calm settling into his soul. He plays every instrument on the album except drums, which in no way intrude on his newfound serenity.
That’s enough to keep things interesting. It’s not Sexsmith’s finest work, but there are enough good songs here to serve those looking for something soothing. Shelby Lynne, “Shelby Lynne” (Thirty Tigers)
There’s hardly a song among the 11 on Shelby Lynne’s first solo record since 2015 that fails to mention love, and even the exceptions stay on theme.
The self-titled album is in part the soundtrack to an unreleased film she stars in, “When We Kill the Creators,” and some of the songs were recorded live on set.
Though many of the lyrics are from Cynthia Mort, the film’s screenwriter and director, it is Lynne’s name on the cover and it still sounds like one of her most personal collections.
Lynne, who often acts here as her own backing band, once again travels the fine line between happiness and heartbreak, making both feel necessary.
Love and relationships are presented in many phases and guises – celebratory (“I Got You”), nostalgic (“Weather”), yearning (“My Mind’s Riot,” which includes a Lynne sax solo) and resilient (“Here I Am”), among others.
Though there are some notable guests like Benmont Tench on a few songs, most of the arrangements are translucently elementary and it’s Lynne voice that carries the emotional weight.
Even with highlights throughout, there’s a definite mid-album peak with “Revolving Broken Heart,” “Off My Mind” and “Don’t Even Believe in Love.”
The first is one of those hushed cries of despondency Lynne excels at. It’s followed by a slice of southern soul in the Aretha Franklin mold, with Lynne playing all the instruments. Finally, comes a sleek tale of inevitability, one of the few tracks with a full band behind her.
Lynne, who with sister Allison Moorer released an album of covers stretching from Merle Haggard to Nirvana in 2017, makes this album one of the purest in her canon and makes one curious about the film.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Country singer Caylee Hammack and her band are facing months without income after the concert industry came to a halt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. So they put down their guitars and started pushing lawnmowers.
Hammack and her band were touring in Europe last month when the virus started to spread in the United States.
They cut their tour short and flew back home quickly, but the time they returned back to Nashville, Tennessee,
their scheduled gigs to open for country icon Reba McEntire were postponed.
“Everything just fell apart when we got back,” said the Georgia-born singer, who is signed to Capitol Records Nashville and whose debut record is planned for this year. “Not only was I out of work, but all of my crew and my band members were out of work. Yeah, we have two months of no pay and no income.”
Her bandleader and guitarist, Lance Herring, and her tour manager, Brayden Griffith, thought they could make up some lost income by mowing lawns, which kept them away from direct contact with others. They named their business Family Tree Lawncare Service after Hammack’s debut radio single, “Family Tree.”
Recently the three met up at a house in Mt Juliet, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, to mow a lawn.
“Being a touring musician is for the most part gig to gig,” said Herring. “And when you have a lot of stuff lined up on the calendar it’s great. And you kind of plan for that, whether it’s financially or travel schedules.”
Herring said they started by asking people online to help them by lending them lawnmowers and other equipment.