At a time when surface emotions, clichéd lyrics and over-complicated, electronically-perfected production are rife in country music and popular music in general, Jacob Thomas Jr. appears, glittering like a diamond drenched in cigarette ash. There his debut record stands, unadorned and led simply by acoustic guitar and a world of dark characters, revelling in the stark realities of life. Usually songs and albums penned in this vein include some kind of redemption, some kind of empathy, a light to guide these characters into a likeability factor, so people will establish a connection with the music. Jacob, however, generally leaves that part out. Instead, the picture he paints of the grayer shades of life is one as simplistic as the music that accompanies it, and as a result allows himself more depth than one might otherwise expect.
In fact, if interpreted as such, this collection of eleven tracks can be taken as a fluid tale about one flawed figure. It begins with the title cut, an admission of adultery that shows little remorse, before moving onto ‘Bored With You’, a harsh dismissal of an irritating lover who he never really cared for, and ‘Skin & Bone’, the more insecurity-filled insistence that he cares not for his lover, and that she cannot hurt him no matter what she does. He is defiant, angry; the pathetic desperation of tracks such as ‘Justine’ and ‘Drinking Thing’ wallow in a wandering lover, turning to alcoholism during the latter and cold and revengeful as the album progresses. We see this in ‘Caroline’, ‘Big Airplane’, and his rather pretty duet cover (with Lily Costner) of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Go Your Own Way’, the rasp of his voice catching on every twist and turn in the melody, every note change snagging.
Yet, contrary to what I may have had you believe, there is some light here, and it begins to reveal itself to us in ‘What I Meant To Say’. A drunken apology (complete with slurring vocals), it perfectly captures the language of such a character, vulnerable and bleeding inside, but overcome with emotion and regret upon an inebriated state. He knows the truth when he sees it through unproud eyes. And while the record goes on to close with a startling sweet love song ‘Only Love’, which furthers the dysfunctional nature of this man’s relationships, it is a line from ‘What I Meant To Say’ that sums up the album so eloquently, “This world of mine’s unkind to the senses, makes me say hurtful things to the missus, it flows off my lips like some sweet cherry kisses… it is what it is”. The self-destruction of human nature, the pride, the insecurity and vulnerability, the heartbreak warfare, it is what it is. In one almost throwaway line, Jacob sums up what many will spend a lifetime trying to explain, in that none of us are perfect, and we must accept that. We lash out, and we hurt it other, but it doesn’t mean we love each other any less.
And despite the stories of biting remarks and callous actions, this is where we’re led to, burned by the fire we lit. How profound is that?
