Steve Forbert: “Daylight Savings Time” (2024) CD Review

Before we even get into the music, yes, the term is actually Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Savings Time. There, that’s out of the way. Steve Forbert has been releasing great original material since the late 1970s. A two-disc set of his first two albums, Alive On Arrival and Jackrabbit Slim, was released in 2013, complete with several bonus tracks, and last year a new version of his 1988 album Streets Of This Town was issued, remastered and remixed. It’s great to revisit these early albums, but Steve Forbert’s talent for songwriting has only grown in the years since those early releases. His new album features all original material, and a great group of musicians backing him. Joining him on this album are Rob Clores on keyboards and accordion, Gurf Morlix on electric guitar, Aaron Comess on drums, Byron House on bass, and Layonne Holmes on backing vocals.

The album opens with “Clouds Roll Past The Sky,” which has a pleasant and pretty sound as it begins. “All those years of youth sure came and went/Young days felt like they went past in real time/Now they seem like so much faster spent.” Indeed. But then he tells us, “Summer’s not done yet/Have another hit/And make the most of it.” I love this. Sure, we can’t help but look back and look forward, but the key is to realize we do actually exist in the moment and to make the most of our lives as they are happening. Not our past lives, not our future lives, but the present, even as he sings “Don’t tell me those days are over.” He also offers this advice: “Save some time for stuff that calms your mind/After all, God knows you’ve got enough things/Tangling up your thoughts most of the time.” This song has such a good feeling about it, a feeling that is intended to transfer to the listener, and certainly does. This song is like a fresh breath, a great way to kick off the album

My girlfriend and I have been noticing a lot more grey vehicles in recent days, and Steve addresses that in the opening lines of “Purple Toyota”: “Auto makers these days go for/Cars that look like rainy weather/Hardly ever bright ones, never, no.” This song is about adding a splash of color to our lives, and though he is singing about cars, we get the sense that this idea applies to things outside of mode of transportation. And wouldn’t rush hour be just a bit more enjoyable if there were brighter colors on the road? “Sometimes I wonder/Will it bounce back later on/These days I’m under/The impression that it’s gone.”  He concludes the song with its opening lines. Then “Sound Existence” opens with a positive line, “You’ve got a place to stay, and you have got a place to park.” For those of us living in Los Angeles, a place to park is just about as important as a place to stay. He continues, “The neighborhood you live in is a safe place after dark.” This song at first seems to remind us to appreciate the good things in our lives, perhaps an important reminder, particularly when we feel down about our lives not being where we’d like them. But there is more going on in this song, as it hints about things outside of this safe existence he has described. “It’s all going to keep you happy if they don’t turn on the news/If getting by’s the new success, well, who needs lots to lose?” There is a lot of terrible stuff going on right now, stuff that can’t be ignored, though it is difficult to fault someone for wanting to focus on his or her immediate surroundings, particularly someone in his or her “golden years.” There is a little nod to “Truckin’” in the line “It’s been a long strange trip.” This song also provides the album with its title.

Steve Forbert delivers some nice work on harmonica at the beginning of “Pour A Little Glitter On It, Baby.” And is that first line, the title line, a playful nod to the line “Pour a little sugar on it, baby” from The Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar”? Either way, it makes me smile. And there is a Shakespeare reference in this song: “Though the discontent of winter may be/Waiting in the wings behind the fall,” a playful variation on Richard III’s “Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this son of York.” This is, as you likely know, not Steve Forbert’s first song to refer to Shakespeare. One of his early hits was titled “Romeo’s Tune.” He also has a song titled “Steve Forbert’s Midsummer Night’s Toast.” Later in this song he plays on the cliché about the best-laid plans, and the line “Yeah, but what would mice be planning anyway?” makes me laugh aloud. That’s followed by “The Blues,” which has a cheerful, kind of delightfully goofy vibe early on, as he sings, “I kicked the blues today/They’ve up and waltzed away/But they’ll be back again/I just can’t say quite when.” And soon he delivers the sobering line, “The blues in fact for some becomes the norm.” This song refers to both Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse, and it features some sweet work on accordion.

“Tomorrow Song” has a sweet and gentle vibe. I have to remember to play this song for my girlfriend, particularly because of these lines: “Today’s such a good day to sleep late/So sleep late and rest yourselves/You’re working too hard lately, and that is best left to someone else.” Sometimes we just need to put problems aside. Life is so damn short, as Steve Forbert sings here, “I would be happy to just spend some time with you/Time keeps on slipping away.” We don’t need to be busy all the time, right? That is followed by “One Lone Leaf,” a song about taking a walk on the woods. Do you ever just focus on a single leaf falling? And it seems to hold great meaning, doesn’t it? You try to catch it, don’t you? In the album’s first track, Steve Forbert sang that “Summer’s not yet gone,” and here he sings, “And I’ll be sad when I see summer start to go.” I also appreciate these lines: “You know the drive here could drive you crazy/You know the traffic lights are long, you’ll hit ‘em all.”

“Simon Says” has a delicious, bluesy groove as it starts. “Simon says it’s late, it’s late/And Simon says come on/Come on, and make for the door.” I also love this line: “Simon says let’s move before they raise the parking rate.” Oh yes! Leaving never sounded so good. This track features some great stuff on guitar. That’s followed by “Dixie Miles,” which also has a good, strong groove. “I’m a granddad now three times over/Still, I’d swear I’m forty-five/I don’t need no off-road Land Rover/Just a simple car to drive.” I dig that work on keys on this track. The album concludes with “Guilt Tripper.” Some cool guitar work sets this one in motion. And what a fantastic rhythm! These lines catch me by surprise each time I listen to this song: “You made the pope feel guilty/About all the church’s sins/He sighed a heavy sigh/And swore he’d try to make amends.” This is a cool song to wrap up an excellent album.

CD Track List

1. Clouds Roll Past The Sky
2. Purple Toyota
3. Sound Existence
4. Pour A Little Glitter On It, Baby
5. The Blues
6. Tomorrow Song
7. One Lone Leaf
8. Simon Says
9. Dixie Miles
10. Guilt Tripper

Daylight Savings Time is scheduled to be released on August 16, 2024.