Acclaimed Texas-born Americana singer/songwriter Betty Soo had a complicated five years between the release of ‘Heat Sin Water Skin’ in 2009 and the release of ‘When We’re Gone’ in May 2014. Between touring around the US and Europe, she was a regular helper and confidante for a number of her loved ones who were each going through their own hard time; from the breakdown to marriages to stints in rehab, to mental hospital visits and domestic violence, and comforting someone whose child died at age five, BettySoo has been there through it all, with her own battles with depression as a point of reference. She wrote countless songs to offload the troubles and struggles that she witnessed and the result is a 12-song collection of reflections on the darkness and strength of the human spirit. Mostly told in the first person to establish a stronger connection with the listener, ‘When We’re Gone’ is an emotionally complex record that often doesn’t present us with resolution; merely telling the stories of sufferers that often resemble our own.
The album opens with the heavily percussive, suspense-building ‘Listen’, compelling us to pay attention to both the beautiful and devastating moments in life, drinking them in because each is important in its own way. She goes forth to spotlight those moments and more on the other tracks, paying close attention to the exact situations she experienced in the lives of her friends. One of the most striking offerings is ‘The Things She Left Town With’, a melancholic peeling back of the curtain to reveal the living conditions of a woman whose husband left her alone. Throughout such descriptors as not enough rent money, cigarettes in lieu of food and clothes that are falling apart, there are tiny references to her self-harming, appearing with the mention of razors and the line “scarred, bruised and tattered like the skin on her arms”. It’s a desperately sad depiction of someone who has lost her way.
‘Josephine’ is also not afraid to get into the gory details. It carefully tells the tale of a married man who in the evenings becomes a singing drag queen, but rather than being a jovial and camp celebration, it’s a somewhat sad, considered reflection on finding one’s own identity and the impact this has. ‘Hold Tight’, meanwhile, is a poetic reimagining of the breaking down of a relationship and the moment when one tries to leave, just as ‘Last Night’ mournfully revisits seeing an ex-lover with their new beau, and their own inability to move on.
But perhaps the saddest entry in this diary of stories is ‘Nothing Heals A Broken Heart’. A beautifully simple piece, BettySoo sings from the point of view of a mother whose young child has died. The mother comes across various physical signifiers the child left behind around the house, causing her to reflect on memories and wonder if she will ever stop feeling this way. It’s truly heartbreaking and powerful, whether you are a parent or not.
Still, not every track on this album dwells on the darkest aspects of our journeys. The more upbeat ‘Wheels’ takes on a more positive outlook, powering on through life without looking back even as she doesn’t feel ready to face new challenges headed her way. “I can’t change how the time flies,” she advises, resolving to just make the best of everything. The chipper ‘Love Is Real’, meanwhile, puts us in the shoes of someone lonely after many a heartbreak, wondering if love is real, before BettySoo assures us that it is, and that it’s coming. The title track to the record, too, reflects on both our collective loves and heartbreaks when it muses on how what we leave behind will appear to those discovering it years later. There is a bittersweet nature to the track, coated in nostalgia.
A strong contender for the album’s title, ‘100 Different Ways of Being Alone’ feels like something of summary piece for the whole record. Through three long stanzas it describes various instances where we find ourselves alone, set to a somewhat cheery, soft rock/pop arrangement, giving a lighter tone to offset the sadness. But if it’s reconciling we look for, some way to drag ourselves through the struggles, then ‘Lullaby’ is our answer. The record’s closing track, it is quite literally a sweet little lullaby that reminds us tomorrow is a new day, and for now at least, everything is peaceful.
‘When We’re Gone’ is an album of great emotional depth, wonderfully-crafted modern Americana and understated delivery that shows BettySoo in her best light as a songwriter and musician.
Originally posted here.
