E.G. Phillips: “Outlaw The Dead” (2023) CD Review

Some musicians have their own particular way of looking at the world, and of expressing what it is they see, what it is they experience. What’s wonderful is that while at first the resulting music might seem out there, might seem strange, it quickly becomes apparent that what is expressed is something that is universal. There is that delicious moment of recognition, when the listener hears his or her own thoughts and concerns revealed through the music, and maybe that leads to some self-reflection. Or maybe it doesn’t. Either way, the music of these musicians tends to stand out. E.G. Phillips is certainly among their number. I loved his 2022 release Alien From An Alternate Earth, an album that displayed his sense of humor. Some of the same folks who played on that album worked on his new release, Outlaw The Dead, including keyboardist Kevin Seal, upright bass player Paul Eastburn, percussionist Chris McGrew, and saxophonist Daniel Cesares. Christopher Fortier plays guitar and electric bass on this release. There are some other guests on certain tracks, including two vocalists.

The album opens with its title track, “Outlaw The Dead.” As it begins, it has dark pop vibe with a solid beat, and E.G. Phillips sings, “They post an eviction notice/On the cemetery gates/Uproot tombstones like they’re weeds/And start unearthing graves.” Soon we learn that a new strip mall is being built there, and I can’t help but think of Poltergeist, and how in that film a neighborhood was built over a cemetery. But this song is not really about the deceased, though there is still a bit of a delicious Halloween vibe to it. It is about those that might seem unnecessary or unimportant to those in power, the poor who don’t have a voice and who might as well be dead in their eyes. And at the end, E.G. Phillips sings, “We are the dead.” Grace Renaud joins E.G. Phillips on vocals for this one. That’s followed by “Boil The Ocean.” There is something pretty about the keyboard work, which is sort of unsettling itself, contrasting with the song’s lyrics and general vibe. “The currents out here can sweep you away/Especially if you tend to drift/I have kept afloat, but I am sinking now/Now there’s one option left/Boil the ocean.” There is a strong sense of loneliness as the song progresses, and so it seems this character might be reaching out in anger and despair. The song paints a harsh picture, one of the slow destruction of an individual.

Grace Renaud provides the lead vocals on “A Bridge Too Far (MacArthur Station),” a song with a bossa nova vibe. It’s about being stuck waiting for a train to get back to San Francisco from Oakland, its title a nod to the Richard Attenborough war film. “It’s a frigid little purgatory surrounded by the highway/Waiting on this open air platform after missing a connecting train/Once again the one connection on which I’m forced to rely/Is the one I can’t rely on at all.” This one too has a sense of loneliness. These lines also stand out: “A mad man rants, my signal’s failed/The whole damn world’s determined to go off the rails.” That “rails” line makes me smile every time I listen to this disc. First of all, it’s true that the world seems dead set on going sideways, but that line can be taken in other ways as well. Obviously, there is the play on the metro, but also there is the idea of people determined to clog the roads with their own vehicles rather than taking public transport. This is an unusual and compelling song. It is followed by “It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You.” Ethan Levitt plays alto saxophone on this track, delivering some wonderful work and helping to create an interesting effect, for there is something of a classic jazz vibe to this track which works in some contrast with the vocal work and what is being said. “It’s been an all-day eclipse/With hints of apocalypse/It’s the last words/I heard from your lips.” There is an odd bit of joy heard in the line “With hints of apocalypse.” This song is about a relationship that has ended, or is ending, a love song about how this love is just no good for him. Yet there is something of a romantic vibe about it. Isn’t that how things are, that we feel two things at once, torn as we feel ourselves going in two directions? That great stuff on sax is part of what makes this track stand out. And I love the way things build here.

“(I Can Pay You In) Bottles Of Wine” also features some cool work on saxophone, this time by Daniel Cesares on baritone sax, and has a cool vibe. Check out these lines: “There are remnants of her in this apartment/A chest in the closet, a blanket that’s stained/And the poison she tried to hide from me/Is now the only currency with which I’m paid.” This is a number that grows in power, becomes livelier as it goes, and is another of the disc’s highlights. It is easy and wonderful to get caught up in its motion. Jazz vocalist Mar Vilaseca sings lead on the disc’s final track, “I Am The One Who Ghosts.” This one mentions the pandemic and mortality in its first verse: “Wish I’d made my escape/With the coming of the plague/It was the perfect opportunity/For me to exit this stage.” It seems then to be about death, but there is a play on the word “ghost,” how now people use the word to mean “suddenly cutting off all communication with someone without explanation,” and so perhaps it is a different sort of escape she sings about, a different sort of stage she is exiting (not the Shakespearean sense of stage meaning the entire world). E.G. Phillips likens the disappearance to a “soldier who abandons his post.” There is an undeniable beauty to this song, due in large part to Mar Vilaseca’s performance. This track also features some nice work on keys and percussion, and there is a haunting atmosphere behind the song’s beauty.

CD Track List

1. Outlaw The Dead
2. Boil The Ocean
3. A Bridge Too Far (MacArthur Station)
4. It Ain’t Good To Be In Love With You
5. (I Can Pay You In) Bottles Of Wine
6. I Am The One Who Ghosts

Outlaw The Dead was released on November 2, 2023.