Second album from literary folk artist looks beyond the boundaries of the genre with startling results.
Michael McGovern returns with his second album, following on from “Highfield Suite”, a near-solo effort recorded in lockdown, “Nebraska”– style from his bedroom. Trailed as a folk album, however broad that church may be, it doesn’t quite prepare you for the breadth of sound on “The Thin White Road”. Featuring a full band, saxophones and choirs, it’s a sound which is often full on. Press releases reference artists as diverse as Laura Marling, Leonard Cohen, Fleet Foxes and Crazy Horse. You could add to that the rush of the E Street Band at times when the full rainbow of musicians kicks on, particularly on the opening title track.
With a strong storytelling theme throughout, McGovern picks up the stories of wandering minstrels, high school lovers who never tug at their curiosities and end up in a cage, songs about dead tap dancers… This isn’t to say that the album is dark. Sure, there are hard times and characters who have made poor decisions, but there is light shining in the corners of the songs.
‘I Heard the Thunder Cry’ is melodically reminiscent of 70s crooner era Tom Waits, with angelic choirs soothing our battered lover’s beaten heart as he longs for a warm pair of thighs to lie on (his thoughts, not mine). ‘I Made a New Friend’ is an alternative telling of ‘Maggie May’, with a rather more realistic view of a relationship with an older woman, with two damaged souls fighting to find the light. Standout ‘The Harbour’ however, with its cheery refrain “Carry me up on the mountain and bury my shame / There’ll be no chorus of angels of mourn for my name” brings the mood down a level. McGovern himself references characters from Steinbeck in this song, and there’s a book load of grief in this song to match. ‘In The Garden’, the quiet album closer, reflects on a failed relationship, how the regrets and disappointment and sadness of that failure melt into acceptance of a situation that needed resolving. It almost feels like a closer to part one of a story, with more to follow.
The album as a whole is a grower, the light hidden behind the many layers of shade. Calling it contemporary folk doesn’t do it justice; McGovern has the talent and the tools to burst well beyond that framing.
