Haunting, emotional, redemptive
by mdwstmatt
Bruce Westcott's "Living Room" sticks with you with an immediacy you might not expect.
Paced like an emotional meltdown tinged with personal revelations and a haze of alcohol, the songs flow together like different dreams from the same night of sleep. They all have commonalities but each is distinct and intriguing. They are united in appeal yet pull the listener from mood to mood, pain to difficult pain, and back again.
Thickly painted with reverb, simple chords, and bluesy vocals, the entire experience veers in the direction of a personal concert played in a small venue. Something like a lone singer with a barely visible, though highly competent, backup band, a single spotlight and one night in which to confess sins, blame everyone including himself, and to finally wrap up with a single upbeat step.
The songs pull the listener along on a cruel ride. Like hearing a real confession for the first time, each song reveals anger, foolishness, and the missteps we've all made but don't want to talk about. You know the emotions behind the lyrics but telling anybody you can relate would leave you vulnerable to being exposed for having made the same mistakes.
It's like your diary being read aloud to you by a total stranger who begins to cry because they know what you went through. It's embarrassing to face what you did and said in your low moments but you end up comforting the stranger and wiping away their tears. The lyrics are a support group that begin with everybody in the shadows but ends in full light and knowing glances.
"One of These Days" drips with a quiet venom about a love failed and warns the person unable, or unwilling, to see the depth of the commitment laid out for the taking that it will come back to haunt them. It's teeth together and no raised voices, a veneer of restraint that only hints at the despair underneath it all. It's weariness and a scary warning all in one.
On the opposite end, "Hello" is upbeat in tone and voice. It brings the downfall in a graceful arc that reverses the previous doubts and miscues. It points to a happy ending without a maudlin touch. There's no rainbow or swelling orchestra, just a new and lasting connection to a woman. The song is no balm for the wounds but it offers hope that redemption is possible.
Atmospherically, the songs flow and unfold slowly. Musically, nothing is fast paced or rushed but it doesn't lose the listener to boredom, either. Simple guitars, an organ, drums and a voice doused in ennui come together to make an album that allows for repeated plays. I highly recommend it to lovers of Neil Young, Chris Whitley and Bic Runga.
