Less is more provides a harder edge for accomplished songsmith.
Sober since 2018, Kyle Lalone’s second album, released five years after his debut release Looking For the Good, sees him moving on from tales of a man trying to conquer his demons to embrace a wider look at life. It also introduces a harder edge; largely gone is the twang of his early career, which was born out of early influences. “When I started making records, they were very much inspired by country music,” he said, “I spent years digging into that type of songcraft and that kind of guitar playing, but I’ve always been a rocker at heart.” Swap Buck Owens for Tom Petty, or Pearl Jam, and you’ll get the idea.
The title track opens things with a driving beat accompanied by a strong bass line, with Lalone determined to take his life by the scruff of the neck, singing, “Now I’m going to make my own way. Follow my own compass. Pay no mind to what they say.” Self-produced at the Station House Studio in Echo Park, Los Angeles and engineered by the Grammy-winning Mark Rains, there’s a nostalgic sound with just guitar, drums and bass to carry the melody. It’s something LaLone aimed at saying, “I’ve noticed a tendency in country music to create arrangements with a lot of instrumentation, and I’ve certainly done a version of that on some of my records… but for this one I wanted to go with less is more.”
Stand Back Up, with its easy beat, and the autobiographical Falling in the Forest are good examples. A harder edge comes with A Change is Coming and Won’t Take This Lying Down. Fuelled by anger and frustration at society’s struggles and crooked politicians.
Having left his demons behind, Lalone is clearly urging his audience to push for a better world; the nine tracks here provide the perfect soundtrack to help them on their way.
