After years of writing about class and politics in a manner that was recognizable but abstract, Jay Farrar decided it was time to get down to brass tacks on Son Volt's 2019's album Union, where he delivered 13 songs informed by the chaos and division that gripped America under Donald Trump. Two years later, too much of what was bothering Farrar hasn't gotten better while other problems have been added to the deck, so he's back in message mode on Son Volt's 2021 follow-up, Electro Melodier. As on Union, Farrar hardly sounds ...
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After years of writing about class and politics in a manner that was recognizable but abstract, Jay Farrar decided it was time to get down to brass tacks on Son Volt's 2019's album Union, where he delivered 13 songs informed by the chaos and division that gripped America under Donald Trump. Two years later, too much of what was bothering Farrar hasn't gotten better while other problems have been added to the deck, so he's back in message mode on Son Volt's 2021 follow-up, Electro Melodier. As on Union, Farrar hardly sounds dogmatic, but he also sounds like he wants us to know exactly what he's singing about no matter how artful his approach, which has not always been the case since he left Uncle Tupelo to have full control over his band. Electro Melodier also manages to be a better album than Union; the songs are, for the most part, more thought out and "These Are the Times," "Living in the USA," and "Diamonds and Cigarettes" make their statements with intelligence and grace (and without hectoring). "War on Misery" finds room to make a perfectly reasonable demand for joy as "The Globe/Prelude" asks for a societal togetherness that it would be hard to expect from Farrar in the past. He and his band don't call up the anthemic sound of classic Son Volt albums like Trace or Wide Swing Tremolo, opting instead for a more compact and intimate approach, but the arrangements are solid and the band plays with a tight authority, while Mark Spencer's keyboards bring out an R&B undercurrent that blends well with Farrar's resonant, soulful vocals. As on Union, Electro Melodier sounds more like the work of a commentator than an activist, but he has something to say and he says it with intelligence and eloquence. As his hero Woody Guthrie proved ages ago, that's no small thing. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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