I will admit, I do not always follow artists from their first album, and then once they get big say, “pfff, I was into them before they blew up.”
That’s a bit too hipsterish for me.
Discovering Gill Landry (or his real name Frank Lemon) was a complete accident, but sometimes accidents are how we get exposed to the best music. And in this instance, I was shown possibly my favorite country album of the year so far.
Landry, who is sort of a jack of all trades with Old Crow Medicine Show, released his third album back in March, and only recently did I have the privilege of hearing it.
The first song of his self-titled album, Funeral in My Heart, hits us right off the bat with genuine lyrics that illustrate the true nature of Landry’s psyche.
“There’s a funeral in my heart and everyone is dressed in black / With chrysanthemums and voodoo dolls trying to bring you back / As the lonesome hearse rolls slowly to the graveyard of my mind / Other than that I’m feeling fine.”
It is as if he let us in for a split second, only to put his guard back up, and I love that about the song. Landry gives us this attitude in the opening verse to ‘Funeral’ that does not come off as snarky, but honest. He expresses himself in a drawn-out poetic way and then basically tells us, “but other than that I’m golden.”
Though other songs vary in theme and do not deliver that same attitude, Landry does not pull any punches and remains true the rest of the album.
“Take This Body” takes his blunt lyrics to an even deeper level, where Landry gets even more confessional and really brings out his vulnerability.
“Standing out on the edge of town / Hoping that you don’t let me down / All of the tears I try to hide / Rise up to haunt me with a vicious tide”
Combine that with melancholic (almost southern gothic) acoustic riffs and Landry’s Louisiana drawl and you’ve got a quintessential country song that speaks to anyone with half a heart.
The album is filled with songs that stand out on their own, from “Funeral in My Heart” and “Take this Body” to the old west-themed, mariachi-sounding “Fennario.”
Sometimes a song is able to intrigue from the start, before any of the artist’s lyrics have hit us, and I don’t mean just a “sick beat”. It’s a sound that takes you to a different time or gives you the feeling of being somewhere else.
As someone who has spent a good part of his life in Arizona and New Mexico, “Fennario” brought me back to road trips through the often desolate, yet beautiful landscape of the American Southwest. Not that I do not love Iowa, but there is quite a contrast between driving through the midwest and southwest. The rest of Landry’s songs on the album may have been relatable on an emotional level, but “Fennario” for some reason added another element, which made it stand out among the others.
Whether you are a fan of great songwriting, or appreciate a simpler form of country music, Landry’s album is definitely one to listen to. Each song on this album is proof that great songwriting and a guitar (and I suppose a deep, gravely B.A. country voice also helps) is really all you need to make a true country album.
For me, the album feels like it should be on repeat on long road trip through the Southwest or a back-country road (take your pick in Iowa). But when you get down to brass tacks, it’s a nice little piece of Americana that still manages to stand out on its own, and not sound cliche.
Originally posted here.
