![]() Throughout, the balanced mood between bruised by hardship and beaming with life is beautifully struck, like when Taylor reassures, “Though I’m torn and tattered / I’ll abide / Baby, I swear I’ll abide.” It meets listeners in a personal way, giving room to cry along with Phil Cook’s wailing harmonica solo on “Gulfport” and giving reason to dance and sway through life to the bouncing syncopation of “John the Gun”. ![]() Musically and lyrically, Hiss Golden Messenger allows room to express emotion. He leads out “Gulfport You’ve Been on My Mind” with the mantra, “I’ve seen darker things than night / Yes, I’ve seen darker things than night / So give me the light.” On “Harder Rain”, he sympathetically speaks to self-harm or self-punishment, singing: “So you say you want it harder / Like more than you can take / And I know you want to suffer / I’ve been to that place.” He continues to share his own experience, “More pain won’t kill the pain / Hear me.” What tends to give Taylor’s voice more credibility than others who have tried to deliver albums of hope is that he doesn’t shy away from the darkness. Hallelujah Anyhow by Hiss Golden Messenger Hallelujah Anyhow by Hiss Golden Messenger The simpler approach allows for Taylor to deliver his hopeful music with intense clarity, albeit a little safely. Where the former release had occasional departures into the eerie swampiness of “Like a Mirror Loves a Hammer” and “As the Crow Flies”, this album stays more in line with the Band and mid-‘70s Bob Dylan. Still holding to the deep southern roots of Americana with occasional tinges of blues and gospel, Hallelujah takes a simpler approach than last year’s Heart Like a Levee. The excellent talent on the album and production by Taylor and Brad Cook combine to make a very focused sound for Hiss Golden Messenger’s third Merge release. On Hallelujah Anyhow, Taylor shares the journey with many of his familiar friends like Megafaun’s Phil and Brad Cook, and even adds harmonies from the likes of Tift Merritt and John Paul White. It’s equal parts self-therapy in those times and encouragement to anyone that finds themselves in that dark place. And if some days that belief comes harder than others, hallelujah anyhow.” Sometimes that’s easier said than done - to praise, to find reasons to be thankful in the face of dark times. I’ve never been afraid of the darkness it’s just a different kind of light. ![]() In his bio, Taylor wrote “Love is the only way out. And that attitude has carried him into 2017’s Hallelujah Anyhow. It’s something he’s come to grips with and decided to “have a good time” in the face of it. The reality of hardship in life and death when it’s over is something Taylor has had a firm grasp of over his previous releases. Taylor decided on “Biloxi” from last year’s Heart Like a Levee. “There’s one way in and there’s one way out / And we’re gonna have a good time,” Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. ![]()
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