After quickly realising that there’s about a million things I’d rather do than sit online in the evening doing a quiz with people from work that I would never have spent an evening with before lockdown, I moved to watching a film a night.
I had barely watched any films in my life, I’ve never had Netflix, so it’s been pretty cool. One of the things we’ve watched is “Love And Mercy”, the one based on Brian Wilson’s life and centred – partly – around him making “Pet Sounds”. I’ve read the stories, like everyone else, about the tortuous sessions. The months on end in the studio honing the thing (see also “Hysteria” or “Chinese Democracy”.
Meet the flip side. “Incommunicado” (I did have to fight the urge to sing Marillion every time I read the title, so thanks, Ryan) is a lockdown album. Recorded remotely in Texas, England and France, Ryan Hamilton got together with producer extraordinaire Dave Draper, Emily Ewing – who provides gorgeous harmonies – and Maurice Hipkiss. He is particularly important, given that he’s doing the pedal steel here. That might tell you that this is a “country” record (if you want to label stuff) rather than Hamilton’s usual sound with his band Harlequin Ghosts. But then, neither is it that big a leap either. It’s not like he’s ever hidden his adoration for Tom Petty (he’s even recorded this on a guitar bought from a shop that supplied the legend), and there have been moments on the more recent stuff that have gone towards Americana. This just goes the whole way.
There are four beautifully sung and beautifully played tracks here. All covers. And as this music comes so from the heart then I’ll also tell the truth, I only knew one of them. The first. “Independence Day” (the Carrie Underwood one, not the Springsteen one) and somehow, this tale of domestic abuse, small towns, revenge and struggle sounds incredibly uplifting when Hamilton sings it. Maybe because he publicly lives his struggles and shows his scars – or more likely, he’s just a brilliant artist.
The pick of them – they are all great, but this is a real pip and a dandy – is “Heads Carolina, Tails California”. Originally by Jo Dee Messina, I defy anyone to listen to its beguiling chorus and be sucked in – and not be singing it for days. Hipkiss is all over “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)” and suckers for a) a lap steel, and b) the “American Dream” if you will, need to gravitate to this one.
“Two Sparrow’s In A Hurricane”, the last here is a Tania Tucker tune from the early 90s, but it represents more. The tale of life-long love is perhaps especially poignant right now, given what Ryan has been through in the last 12 months (its odd, I guess that I use his first name without thinking, as it feels like I “know” him) but its last line: “the world says they’ll never make it, but love said they will” is perfect for the modern age too.
And that hope, it’s always seemed to me, to be a major part of Hamilton’s work and also the reason why I have enjoyed it so much since first hearing his People On Vacation project. It’s been a real fun thing to watch him grow, and “Incommunicado” ironically has got the wider world talking too. It was number one in the country charts for a bit. It is merely another jewel in a truly glorious treasure chest.
Rating 9/10
Profits from the EP go to Music Venue Trust’s ‘Save Our Venues’. Find out more here: http://musicvenuetrust.com/
