Taylor Hollingsworth Life With A Slow Ear (Saddle Creek)
4/5
By: Stephen Maughan
There are times, dear reader, that we the critic can get things very wrong. Reading back on my review of the Mystic Valley Band, I wrote “Taylor Hollingsworth's 'Air Mattress' is by far the worst song here, written, as Taylor so eloquently explains in the film (One Of My Kind), after falling asleep on an air mattress next to a girl. As the air went out of the mattress he woke up to find himself closer to the girl then when he fell asleep. He then tells us with a beer in hand "that is a good thing".
So, here I am almost a year later rocking out to the brilliant Life With A Slow Ear, what has been called a post-modern country blues album, and I am convinced that Taylor Hollingsworth is not just a whizz with the ol' acoustic gee-tar, but a lyricist of a very high standard, that reminds me of the spirit, if not the eloquence, of great American Southern writers such as William Faulkner. Particularly in the first 6 songs, a dazzling collection of self confessional music of such beauty it hurts - “It's hard to believe in something when you feel like it's all a lie, infinity pictures in your rainbow mind until you are out of wax, and you create a world to share with your girl...There has got to be something out there more than this” before concluding “does the mind continue working with the soul when the body is in the ditch?” with such despair it's sure to keep you up wondering the same thing on those lonely nights.
And I dismissed Taylor Hollingsworth as some dumb, irresponsible, beer gulping, girl lovin' frat boy! The truth is, at least on Life With A Slow Ear, is that he is a troubled and sensitive soul, demonstrated on songs like 'When I Was A Boy', and you start to realise what Conor Oberst saw in him to offer Hollingsworth a place in the Mystic Valley Band.
'Westfalla' is not only the best song on the album, it's one of the best rambling confessional songs I've ever heard - “I was looking for attention from any girl that was around, my show off behaviour fed my attraction to danger...And I knew I did not have a clue what I was getting myself in, and I didn't seem to care. The next thing I had new friends we had not much in common – we wound up selling acid on Westfalla corner...It still f**ks me up today.” which reminds me of the glory days of American poet Jim Carroll (who Leonardo Dicaprio played in The Basketball Diaries)
This all sounds like it's heading for a 5 star review, but wait a second before you rush to your record shop - what needs to be addressed, and is impossible to ignore, is Taylor's voice. It certainly takes some getting used to. Personally, I like his screeching Alabama vocal style, but it won't be to everyone's taste, and a quick scan on the internet finds critic after critic calling him (and the album) “awful”, and “unlistenable, and well, frankly, weird.” Taylor himself admitted in a recent interview the record “is not flying off the shelves or anything – “everybody talks about how weird it is, and how my voice is like, the weirdest voice they’ve ever heard.” The fact is the album was rightly or wrongly recorded live, and is about as minimalist as you can get – for most of the time it's just Taylor and his acoustic guitar. There is no autotune. There is no hiding. And whilst I think it makes the record far more interesting and intimate, but many will struggle to get through the album on first listen.
A peculiar singing voice he may have, but few can deny his talents as a guitar player, where since a teenager he has been playing with punk bands such as the Dexateens and Verbena, and has toured with various musicians including Maria Taylor. His guitar work on Life With A Slow Ear is so stripped down from his previous releases, it allows him to perform some quite breathtaking playing that really highlight his skills as one of American's most under rated players. If you combine this with his sad-eyed and lost lyrics it's quite something. By bringing in his girlfriend, Kate Taylor, to add her soothing and gentle voice to a couple of numbers only adds a certain glamour to the proceedings (“Can you take me away Katy?” he sings in the Dylan inspired gloomy 'Sin City Blues') and the result is an intriguing and different album which is likely to be one of the most unique records of the year. Taylor Hollingsworth is a fascinating young man worth keeping an eye on - yes, even if he did write a song about falling asleep on an air mattress next to a pretty girl – which come to think of it, is a good thing!
Artists in this article: Taylor Hollingsworth
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