#BESTTHINGS2011 // ROBERT ELLIS
Actual country. Actual Texan.
I first caught wind of Robert Ellis through a tip from the excellent website Aquarium Drunkard (www.aquariumdrunkard.com). The post on Ellis began with this statement:
Considering what passes for “country music” in Nashville these days (not to mention “country radio”) it’s easy to forget there are true heirs to the old masters writing, recording and performing in the here and now of 2011. Robert Ellis is one such artist.
Enough said, I thought, sign me up. So, why #bestthing the man himself and not Photographs, the excellent record he released this year on New West? The answer is complicated but falls mainly on the fact that my interest in Ellis is derived more from him as the “true heir” to the country songwriter greats than in anything the young artist (dude is only 22, #wtf #fml) has produced so far.
The record itself is a schizophrenic affair by design. The first half of the album is all what Ellis calls his “dark folk stuff” (though, lets be honest, it’s “folk” in the same way Townes Van Zandt was “folk,” which is to say it’s still country) with the second end of the record being dedicated to songs written in a “classic country” style (full band arrangements, gorgeous late ’60s/early ’70s production). The story being that Ellis & company had a recurring gig at a hometown venue in Houston performing classic country songs (George Jones, Ray Price, Merle Haggard, etc.) and wanted to explore that style of songwriting at least partially on his next record. Both sides are successful but my heart, and I would argue Ellis’ strengths lie in the classic country end of Photographs. From his lyrical aesthetic to his vocal delivery, Ellis sounds most at home in a classic country setting. Sure, there are faults - the cartoonish misogyny on “No Fun” kind of makes me cringe (which is a shame because lyrical content aside, it’s a great tune) but that all melts away with George Jonesian heartbreakers like “What’s In It For Me?” and the album-ending titular track “Photographs.” It’s exciting stuff for those-of-us-in-the-know who know the beauty, power and depth country songwriting can have and that country music in general has lacked for far too long now.
The only other grand statement about Robert Ellis I have left at my disposal is that the sentimentality of album opener “Friends Like Those” is the only thing that could have made the series finale of Friday Night Lights better had it been used in a montage scene at the end of the show. And if you know anything about me, or about that t.v. series in general, then you know literally nothing could have made that ending episode better, so that’s saying a lot.
Robert Ellis - “What’s In It For Me?” from Photographs http://soundcloud.com/newwestrecords/07-whats-in-it-for-me
Robert Ellis - “Friends Like Those” (live)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvC9w73iXRU
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#BESTTHINGS2011 is a series focusing on the “best things” released in 2011. Bucking arbitrary numerical distinction, these postings will appear in no particular order with no particular concern for whether they are original releases or reissues from this year. I’m hoping to post one a day for the remainder of the calendar year or until I run out of best things to write about. Not sure which will come first.
