Papa M is the solo project of veteran artist David Pajo. Born in 1968, Pajo grew up in Louisville, Kentucky playing with a multitude of bands in his early career as a musician. One of these bands, Slint, turned out to be a majorly influential group. Their 1991 sophomore album Spiderland has grown a cult following over the years, as well as garnered praise from titans of the alternative scene. Steve Albini himself gave the album, “Ten fucking stars”.

After the era of Slint, Pajo embarked on his solo journey as Papa M. In November 2024, he unveiled his sixth studio album, Ballads of Harry Houdini, under the renowned label Drag City. The decades of his musical evolution are palpable in the album’s six songs. As the title suggests, these songs are rooted in the ballad tradition, but they also venture into the realm of experimentation, playing with time signatures and white noise in a way that is uniquely Pajo.

The album’s opening track “Thank You For Talking To Me (When I Was Fat)” is immediate in its strangeness. We are delivered unto the sounds of power tools and maracas, left there in confusion until a bass line and drums give the song a more traditional structure. The bass is thick, a welcome juxtaposition to the hi-hats of the drums and screeching guitar. Added together, this track feels like a locomotive chugging along, its powerful engine driving it forward, looking for its next stop. This is a song on the prowl.

The album’s standout moment arrives in the form of its second track, “Ode to Mark White”. This track, with it’s vocal delivery that rivals Tom Waits, and a guitar that exudes a southern rock vibe, is a potential dive bar anthem, ready to be belted out in the wee hours of the morning.

The rest of the album offers quite a bit of variation, “Barfighter” has a Proto-punk feel to it, while “Rainbow of Gloom” almost reaches Grateful Dead territory of 70s guitar. The album as a whole is not the most cohesive project, yet the songs very much work even while standing out from each other.

All in all, this is a beautiful album. One to listen to at last call and sing to with your friends while half crying.