Today’s Track Premiere comes from “Ivory Tower“, the latest album by Samuel Wilbur, whom, you may recall, is a Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter, high school teacher (he teaches history), and passionate environmentalist. He describes “Ivory Tower” as a concept album which reflects on life in modern day America, where the rise of the billionaire ruling class opens its doors to fascism while invasive technology and ubiquitous AI accelerate the global climate crisis.
‘Once Again The World Let You Down’ sits as a centre-piece on the album, and, after a Mercury Rev-esque opening pretty much addresses all those issues without too much of a glossing over. On this song the majority of vocals are provided by Meghan Kreidler who sings powerfully of the disappointment of, once again, seeing might and greed triumphing over better natures with Wilbur adding a summary coda of “What’s right was clear as day but somehow they twist it around.”
It’s not a song that offers any solutions, instead it has the feel of being battered down so far that there’s just exhaustion to offer as resistance.
