This is a compelling acoustic version of Heart’s Too Heavy, from the album High On Tulsa Heat, my favourite of all John Moreland’s albums. The track is a howl of anguish from Moreland, who must have been going through a dark time when it was written, and who seems to have demons from his past: “And I’m pulling up devils from the long dark past / And the pain starts piling up too fast / I can pin down the minute that I lost my buzz / Thought I was somebody nobody could love”
It is the way of the world that great art often comes from suffering rather than contentment, and here is another example. It almost feels intrusive to watch his pain, but then he has put his work out there to be heard. You can only hope that this helps him and is cathartic in some way. The album version has a lot to commend it, with some lovely steel guitar, electric piano, and drums giving a strong beat. However, this stripped-down version really brings the emotion of the song to the fore.
Moreland is from a conservative religious family that moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten. He was encouraged to learn guitar by his musical father and continued playing and writing songs with a boy he knew from church. He played in local punk and hardcore bands during his teenage years. It was hearing Steve Earle, who his father was also a fan of, that turned him towards folk and country music.
High On Tulsa Heat was his third album, recorded in 2015 at his parents’ home while they were away on holiday. It was recorded quickly in a few days with various friends contributing. He has since recorded four more albums, with Visitor, from 2024, being the last. This came after a difficult tour promoting 2022’s Birds In The Ceiling. Moreland needed some time to rejuvenate, away from the pressures of both being a musician and the modern world itself. He took a year off from playing shows and had six months off from his smartphone.
Revived, he returned to something like the method used for High On Tulsa Heat. Visitor was recorded in his home in Oklahoma in a short time, with Moreland playing most of the instruments, in addition to doing the mixing and engineering. It is a good album that has gathered critical praise, including an 8/10 from AUK’s Paul Kerr. And as he is a prolific songwriter, there is likely to be more excellent stuff from him in the future.
