The album opens with “False Memories,” a short, dreamy instrumental piece, with hints of conversation in the background, words that we can’t quite hear. Not being able to pick out precise words certainly helps in capturing the sense of false memories. An interesting and unusual way to begin the album, and we can’t help but wonder if it is to color how we receive all the tracks that follow. Then the opening lines of “Scenery” are “I learned to bleed/To treat this all like scenery/But it keeps coming around/What I see/Don’t always match reality,” compelling lines. This is a song for these uncertain and unsettling times, when many folks are anxious. “What we need/Is a break from all this misery/But it keeps coming around.” The song itself has a rather gentle and soothing vibe, and even includes some nice, cheerful whistling toward the end. It is as if the song itself wishes to provide that much needed break.
Irina Markevich joins him on violin for “Paint,” delivering some beautiful work right as the song begins, creating a dreamy mood. This is a song that seems to address art as life, life as art, the marketing of both, and whether any of it is worth it. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “You know where your heart is/But that ain’t gonna pay/God is just an artist/And this world is just some paint.” Then check out the opening lines of “Timeline”: “When I was young, I didn’t know/What to do, so I did as I was told.” This track also features some really good work on guitar. But lines like “Something inside is awake/And I can’t keep living/Like it’s not gonna fade away” are what make me really love his music.
“Ebb And Flow” establishes a cool groove, and features some catchy work on keys. Bill Bambach plays bass on this track. “Sometimes we know/Sometimes we don’t/And when this living’s hard/It covers up the good parts.” Those lines get right to the truth of things, don’t they? It’s difficult to keep that from happening, and that might be part of why people are so angry these days. The good parts are obscured or shrouded, to the point where they cease to have a positive effect on us. And check out these lines: “And when your love is far/There’s something about that graveyard/Put my feet up to the stars.” Those are lines you can lose yourself in. That’s followed by “Rise And Shine,” a short, pretty guitar track that also features some whistling. It has a relaxed vibe, like a morning stroll in a well-lit forest.
“The Middle” was released as a single, and is one of the album’s strongest songs. Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about how we need to reach out to those with opposing viewpoints and meet somewhere in the middle. Normally, I would completely agree, but it feels like we can’t meet in the middle now, in part because the middle ground seems to be gone, and only a deep, dangerous chasm remains. In this song, Dan Friese sings, “You’d meet ‘em in the middle/But the middle’s dead/No, we don’t talk/Just lose our heads.” But the lines that really stand out for me are these: “We demonize/We criticize, dehumanize/Don’t realize/All the lies twisting our minds/And if we let our fears/Turn to hate, it’ll turn into tears/If you could lend your ear/And listen to me like I’m someone/That you hold dear.” That really is the trick, I think, what he says in those last couple of lines. Trying to keep something like that in mind is how I manage to drive to work without losing my temper, thinking of other drivers as friends, or at least people that I like.
“Disgraceful” has something of a bluesy vibe, and features some nice work on harmonica right at the beginning. The opening line is a variation on that traditional opening blues line, with Dan singing “You wake up early in the morning.” This is a song about how people aren’t earning their worth, and about how asking for a living wage is seen as being greedy. This one ends rather abruptly. But the next song, “Time To Sing,” addresses a similar, related theme. “We’ll fight for position/And work ‘til we’re old/It’s not healthy/And we’re all bound to lose.” This is another of the disc’s strongest tracks, and features some good work on guitar. It reminds us that we really do need to make time for the things that should matter, to enjoy this short life.
“Greener” features a pretty, gentle sound on guitar, and a heartfelt, intimate vocal performance. “And fear starts surrounding/It makes/It makes you doubt everything.” Bill Bambach plays bass on this one. It is another of my personal favorites. I love that harmonica work near the end. That’s followed by “Shine A Light,” which also mentions fear: “Reality fades/It’s replaced with my fears/Those rational days/Have been dead, gone and faded/For years.” Fear and anxiety seem to be constants in our world these days, and need to be addressed. This song, in its brief time (just under two minutes) also addresses the brevity of life: “This life that we’re living/Takes its toll on everyone/But it’s all we’re given/And pretty damn soon/It will be done.”
Irina Markevich returns on violin for “Caverns,” her work on the beginning lifting us up, like a memory that is better than reality. This song addresses the uncertainty and noise of life, while that violin does its best to soothe us, to calm us, even to guide us. “We wait so long/To find some answers/Find some meaning.” Then fear is mentioned again in “I Hope It Stays”: “I felt a fear I can’t describe.” But in this song he has come through it. He is singing from a calmer place. The album concludes with its title track, “Somewhere Brighter,” which urges us to make some effort, to make some decisions. Eric Carne joins him on drums for this track, and there is also some really good work on harmonica toward the end. This song develops an uplifting sound as it goes. “I’m on my way/To somewhere brighter.”
CD Track List
- False Memories
- Scenery
- Paint
- Timeline
- Ebb And Flow
- Rise And Shine
- The Middle
- Disgraceful
- Time To Sing
- Greener
- Shine A Light
- Caverns
- I Hope It Stays
- Somewhere Brighter
Somewhere Brighter was released on October 1, 2021.
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