It has been a while, quite a while, since we last featured Great Willow (although we have heard more recently from James Combs, one half of the duo), so it’s really nice to have some new music from this band we enjoyed both on their own and making music with I See Hawks In L.A. In this new song by Erin Hawkins and James Combs, there is a reflection on how things have changed in recent years, and changed quickly. It’s a song that expresses sadness for the abandoning of rationality and of reasoned discourse, and of the embracing of lifestyles that promote a disdain for empathy and caring, or basic humanity, as we used to call it.
As James explains: “Erin and I wrote Age of Reason as a response to the madness that seems to have infected our modern politics and, by extension, our daily lives. How did our age of reason fall so far, so fast? We remember a time when we Americans were sweeter, more naturally generous, more connected in a human way. We wonder how we’ve managed to spiral away from that time into a place that seems more volatile and hostile and wholly lacking in reason and humanity. Our song is a lament for what we’ve lost and a plea to find our connectedness again. For us, being in nature – especially the beautiful nature that surrounds us in California – helps us feel rooted to a slower, saner, and richer way of being. Something closer to what we used to have. How do we Americans find our way back to each other and ourselves?”
Age of Reason was produced by Susan James, and, as well as Great Willow themselves, also features: on Dobro and slide guitar, Ben Peeler, whilst Susan James adds organ.
