Strong instrumentals with a weak core
Domestic abuse, emotional abuse, the death of a grandparent, post-traumatic stress disorder and a Shoshone taking revenge for the horrific treatment of her people. One can make art out of just about anything, but interesting subject matter doesn’t instantly make an album great. Emily Scott Robinson excellently executed these topics on her sophomore LP Traveling Mercies, leaving her latest record, American Siren, at a disadvantage. It sounds just as good, but the writing isn’t as effective and takes nowhere near as many risks as its predecessor.
The one consistent part of this record is how gorgeous the music is. Aside from the crinkly drums on “Things You Learn the Hard Way,” every acoustic pick, fiddle rhythm and thrum of pedal steel sounds gorgeous. From the harmonies propping up “Old Gods” to the final collage of bass, pedal steel and organ on “Every Day in Faith,” there’s almost nothing to complain about when it comes to the quality of the instrumentals.
Robinson isn’t the most expressive singer, or at least not one who’s at her best when cutting loose. Her haunted, fragile delivery is best suited for mysterious, understated tracks like “The Dress.” The protagonist of “Let ’em Burn,” lamenting all the things she threw away in the hopes of being a happy housewife, could’ve come to life were there an intense final crescendo, and the uninspiring piano composition and Robinson’s restraint do it no favors. Similarly, “Cheap Seats,” a celebration of her success, starts off promising with more energy and pep than usual. The hook feels like it’s going to explode as she emphasizes her struggles and success overcoming them, but instead, it remains rather tepid and decidedly not celebratory.
The one true masterpiece on American Siren is “Hometown Hero,” a story about a soldier returning home, committing suicide, which sends shockwaves through his family and community. It emphasizes how worthless patriotic clichés are in the face of a hero’s death, leveraging her inability to sell elation. The second verse’s mundane, domestic details about what the wife and kids were doing when he pulled the trigger sell the horror of the act better than any description of gore or blood.
It’s a shame such details don’t pop up more on American Siren. There’s a lot of standard check-list structures on “Old North State” and “Things You Learn the Hard Way” that Robinson should be beyond. “If Trouble Comes a Lookin” is a positively framed song about an affair driven by loneliness, but it would’ve been more effective if it didn’t spell out its point in the final verse like a PSA. None of the songs hold the same thematic weight of “Hometown Hero,” and other songs that attempt to, like “Let ’em Burn,” are too broadly sketched. Perhaps others will connect with these songs, but after the greatness of Traveling Mercies, there’s no room for a “perhaps.”
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