A new cosmic Americana star arrives fully-fledged on striking debut.
Brooklyn-based Meir Levine has similar concerns to many of us. He’s exercised by such fundamental questions as “What do I really care about?” and “Who do I want to be?” The arrival of his exquisite debut album sees him spending a little time considering these fundamentals, but mostly, the fact of the record’s very existence is evidence that he has, for now, answered them in the most emphatic fashion.
Levine’s dream is to be a musician, and judging by the glorious, unfettered splendour of “Long and Lonesome Highway”, he’s going to be one to cherish. After deciding that the law was not for him, he went headfirst into music, making a “conscious decision—to go as hard as I possibly could, for as long as I possibly could.” Playing in various ‘garage’ bands throughout his 20s until a Covid-induced period of reflection saw him record and release debut single ‘Summer to Summer’ in 2022. Intermittent releases in the intervening 3 years have added to the promise of that debut, but nothing prepares for the fully-formed glory that is “Long and Lonesome Highway”.
The record lands immediately, sounding both impeccably crafted and uninhibitedly carefree. This is something so many strive for yet so few manage to pull off in such an effortless way as Levine does here. Such an ability is clearly based on the “deep, attentive reverence for musicians” that he developed from a very young age. Spending hours watching his professional musician father playing with bands and paying concentrated attention to what every musician was doing and how they were interacting.
“Long and Lonesome Highway” sounds like the most natural record possible. As if it were recorded in someone’s backyard over a few relaxed sunny afternoons with jugs of homemade lemonade at hand. Like the very best music of its type, it is easy-going and relaxed but precisely in the pocket, creating a genuinely engaging and cohesive performance. Levine may have a natural affinity with how this stuff works, but he has also clearly spent a great deal of time and effort putting together exactly the right set of circumstances to create something so effortlessly appealing.
He rounded up a small but premium squad for the recording of the LP, working with regular collaborators producer (and piano-man) Andrew Freedman and engineer D. James Goodwin along with instrumentalists such as Will Graefe (Guitars), Jeremy McDonald (Bass), Mike Robinson (Pedal Steel) and Jordan Rose (Drums). Some of the cohort’s previous collaborators include Okkervil River, Bonny Light Horseman, Zach Bryan, Sarah Jarosz, The Hold Steady and Kevin Morby, and these may offer some suggestion as to the sound of “Long and Lonesome Highway”.
Levine himself notes that their openness, flexibility, and willingness to put aside any inhibitions are the key advantages of having these players on the record, something that is evident in every supremely melodic, soulful, and perfectly played note. The balance between such polished proficiency and loose haunting evocation is as exquisite as it is rare. “Long and Lonesome Highway” is intricately put together and performed with expertise and expression. It sounds and feels great.
The record is rife with suggestions of antecedents and inspirations. ‘All Your Worries’ offers up the dynamics of Taylor Goldsmith’s finest moments with Dawes, ‘Sad Songs’ flirts with the expansive, layered sound of War on Drugs and the closing ‘Long Goodbye’ is a second cousin to the Avett Brothers’ exquisitely wistful ‘I and Love and You’. In fact, think of any great recent band who have shifted, however slightly, the sands on which guitar-driven Americana is built and there will be echoes in this record. Yet it sounds like none of them. It sounds like Meir Levine, an emerging new star in the Cosmic American firmament.
