Portland, Oregon artist Jeffrey Martin has recently released his latest album ‘Thank God We Left the Garden’, a paradoxical nod to Martin’s own spiritual conclusions. The release is the follow-up to his 2017 outing ‘One Go Around’. The album was self-produced and recorded in a tiny shack on the back of Martin’s small corner lot in southeast Portland and features esteemed US guitarist Jon Neufeld who adds electric guitar to three tracks.
The title ‘Thank God We Left the Garden’ is a paradoxical nod to Martin’s own spiritual conclusions, a theme that is subtly woven throughout the album. The son of a pastor, he touches on his religious upbringing then carries us well beyond his past where the weight of his deepest questions are free to unfold.
We are led into this eleven track offering with `Lost Dog` and although it`s stripped back with Jeffrey`s deep vocals and an acoustic guitar it`s a cavernous listen. A story of a person who seems to have lost direction in life and has a revelation or awakening from meeting a ghost whose advice may well change his life for the better. The frustration at where the narrator is currently is nigh on tangible in the vocals shared. We enjoy a similar sentiment with `Garden` which expresses a deep loneliness within the storyteller who is searching for salvation almost.
Although `Quiet Man` appears to be written about somebody who is looking for a purpose or meaning in life there`s a much bigger picture here, a metaphor possibly and it seems like it`s a reflection on today`s society and possibly it`s lack of significance or reason. There`s one paragraph that really sums things up with “Maybe heaven is a place that doesn’t have an address, and maybe that’s okay just like joy or sadness, you can meet God in a cigarette just the same as in a sermon and the Devil’s always listening to those who are deserving.” We have an introspective contemplation on adolescent romance with `Red Station Wagon` and how parental convictions interfered with something special that had potential. There`s a real sense of longing and yearning in the vocals.
`Paper Crown` is a further tale of searching for a purpose to our daily existence although you conform, there`s something missing and you are sure you`re not along thinking this. The singer has shared that with `There Is a Treasure`, “This is a thankful ode to all that remains out of reach. To the brief glimpses of a place beyond time and worry, beyond death even, where we live purely and forever in the here and now and it stretches out past all measure. And in that place we feel ourselves as beautifully unimportant, untethered from the din of our daily angst, a single part of the huge mystery of existence. What a special human gift to be able to see ourselves framed in that light, released for brief moments from the otherwise burdensome weight of being alive. And from that soft and careful vantage point, it’s a little easier to see the preciousness of each life and to find compassion for every person’s story.” There`s some delightfully intricate nigh on fingerpicked Spanish / flamenco sounding guitar chord inflections throughout this thoughtful submission.
`All My Love` has a real sense of intimacy and expresses a deep love in some relatively simple sentiments about spending time together. There may be echoes of unfulfilled ambitions with `Daylight` maybe physically, emotionally, and romantically and the realisation that it`s time to move on.
There is such a lyrical depth to `I Didn’t Know` an introspective reflection on an upbringing that had little in the way of wealth but so much in love. It leaves you hanging as a traumatic event occurs and the narrator is left reflecting on fate and if your life is already planned out without your ability to reshape it. The additional electric guitar chords add a further haunting poignancy. I got the impression that `Sculptor` is about a romance that has either soured or the partner has passed. It`s a really heartbreaking listen as i`m sure we`ve all felt either the pain of a breakup or a loss of somebody close.
We close out with the meditative and contemplative `Walking` a stripped back number with vocals and strummed guitar, an end of the day/early hours of the morning consideration on life when the rush of day has passed.
‘Thank God We Left the Garden’ was originally a set of demos that were to be worked up in the studio later and for me i`m so glad the artist decided to leave be. There is such depth in these, at what first appears simple musings but on listening will almost overwhelm you, emotionally and spiritually.
They say that the meaning of life can be derived from philosophical and religious contemplation of, and scientific inquiries or in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the number from which all meaning (“the meaning of life, the universe, and everything”) can be derived. Whatever you believe, Jeffrey Martin and ‘Thank God We Left the Garden’ will certainly stir up those questions and emotions and much, so much more. This singer-songwriter arrives in the UK this coming week for an eleven date tour of the UK and Ireland and i can`t anticipate a tour i`ve been so wired about, in such a long time.
Rating 9.5/10
