<\/p>\n
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>— Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/i> <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know about you, but it\u2019s been a tough year around these parts so far. There\u2019s an abundance of blessings to celebrate in the day-to-day that\u2019s close at hand, but there\u2019s also a dark cloud hanging over the wider world. Around the time this cloud descended, one contrarian friend\u2014a fellow much like yours truly, who gets down sometimes but who is ultimately a bull-headed optimist\u2014put his finger on one of the biggest silver linings of the country\u2019s current situation, saying, in essence: \u201cYeah, but the art\u2026 the art is gonna be GREAT!\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but reflect on that comment when taking in Souvenir<\/i>, the sixth studio release from folk-rock stalwarts Drew Holcomb And The Neighbors, an album overflowing with the very qualities it feels like we need most right now: kindness, compassion, warmth, integrity, and underneath it all, a steely determination.<\/p>\n
The songs\u2014primarily from Holcomb, but with multiple co-writes with Neighbors Nathan Dugger (guitars and keys) and Rich Brinsfield (bass), who each contribute one solo-written track as well\u2014are consistently generous and full of heart, beginning with the lilting, lyrical celebration of love (and lust) \u201cThe Morning Song.\u201d This immediately appealing, deeply romantic opener is framed by acoustic rhythm guitar and Holcomb\u2019s engaging, entreating voice, as he tells his lover \u201cI want to quit all our troubles \/ I want to see your roses bloom \/ I want to shake your foundations \/ I want to send you to the moon.\u201d Holcomb\u2019s rich tenor mostly soars like a more controlled Jeff Buckley, occasionally descending into a throaty Van Morrison-esque growl.<\/p>\n
Holcomb\u2019s warm presence at the mike is equally engaging on the more propulsive \u201cCalifornia,\u201d featuring bigger guitars and a narrative that has a bit of a Jimmy Buffett feel in its first-person, here\u2019s-a-few-thoughts-about-something-I-love conversational style. \u201cFight for Love\u201d is the first song I heard from Holcomb and the one that led me here, a big-boned, punchy number built around the simple, powerful idea that \u201cYou\u2019ve gotta fight for love \/ Fight for what you\u2019re dreamin\u2019 of.\u201d In the third minute, his vocals briefly take on a grittier cast, giving his generally soft-spoken Americana a little rock \u2018n\u2019 roll turbo boost.<\/p>\n
The second and third acts of the album find Holcomb and band (Dugger and Brinsfield with support from drummer Jonathan Womble, producers Ian Fitchuk and Joe Pisipia, and vocalist\/guitarist\/spouse Ellie Holcomb) trying on different looks, fitting their sound to the song. \u201cRowdy Heart, Broken Wing\u201d is a slight number that slows things down leading into \u201cNew Year,\u201d a pulsing midtempo contemplation addressing everything we don\u2019t know about life: \u201cIt\u2019s a new year, it\u2019s a new song, it\u2019s the same mystery.\u201d (I feel that so often\u2026 it\u2019s hard to understand at times, but all in all, life is good\u2026 and it certainly beats the alternative.)<\/p>\n
Brinsfield\u2019s pleasantly wistful \u201cSometimes\u201d opens like a late-Beatles piano ballad before blossoming halfway through, leading into a tasty guitar solo. By contrast, the ukulele-driven \u201cMama\u2019s Sunshine, Daddy\u2019s Rain\u201d has the sunny playfulness of a Jimmy Buffett or Jon Troast tune. The Holcomb-Holcomb duet \u201cBlack And Blue\u201d has a bit of a Beatles feel as well, though the Jayhawks are probably closer to the mark; either way, it offers nice drive and this bit of wisdom: \u201cYou cannot love what you control.\u201d <\/p>\n
The next two cuts move more into country-folk territory, the naturally nostalgic \u201cPostcard Memories\u201d featuring steel guitar, acoustic and harmonica, while Dugger\u2019s \u201cThe Yellow Rose Of Santa Fe\u201d goes full-on traditional country and western, a song that feels like it could have slipped between the folds of time off a late-\u201950s Buck Owens LP.<\/p>\n
Closer \u201cWild World\u201d is another highlight, opening with a distant siren before moving into a steadily unfolding, fiercely optimistic take on today\u2019s dispiriting politics: \u201cTry a little tenderness \/ Maybe some benefit of the doubt \/ Another person\u2019s point of view \/ Try to listen and not shout \/ Hold your opinions loosely \/ Maybe you\u2019re not always right \/ Show a little mercy and hold onto love real tight\u201d\u2014because in the end, \u201cLove is all we\u2019ve got to give away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holcomb\u2019s gentle confidence up front gives this music a deceptively easygoing storyteller\/troubadour vibe at times, but this album is much deeper and richer and stronger than that might make it sound. There\u2019s something timeless in the group\u2019s presentation of these songs; they end up feeling like standards, songs with the bones and muscle and warm blood running through them that will allow them to stand up for a lifetime. <\/p>\n
In the end, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors\u2019 Souvenir<\/i> emerges feeling like a balm for the wound to the soul represented by the selfishness and brutality of the current political moment. It\u2019s an album full of kindness, generosity, warmth, compassion, and grounded, clear-eyed optimism. In a clouded-over year that\u2019s been tough for a lot of folks to get through so far, Souvenir<\/i> is a bright ray of sunshine.<\/p>\n
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