"I don't know what comes after this" is the first line of "Look Up To The Sky." It's an interesting opening line, and an honest one."In my life, anyway," Chris Dollar then adds, moving it to a more personal level. Ah, but does any of us? The older I get, the more I'm convinced that no one knows anything. "All I know is I want you here," he then sings, another line we can relate to. He then adds, "For the duration, anyway." I love those little additions, those added thoughts. Chris Dollar wrote this song. It's a sweet number featuring some nice work on banjo, and a really good, though also really short, lead on guitar near the end. "That sun will arise/That fire will subside." The second track, "Palomino," also mentions fire: "These days the California highways are always on fire." Lyrics about fire probably stand out even more to those of us living in the Los Angeles area than usual. "I've got to get out of here, I've got to get out of here/The smoke's making it harder to breathe." Fire weighs heavily on the minds of many people in this area, and I hope as the 4th of July approaches that people will be smart regarding the use of fireworks (but I'm not optimistic about that). This is a pretty song that gently grabs us, and features moving vocal work. It was written by Jake Howard and Carolyn Brittin Kendrick.
Ben Wright wrote "Line The Avenues," and sings lead on it. Check out these lyrics: "All the training in the world/Won't shake off the impending dread/The old fan on the ceiling/Is nothing to fight the heat/And the sweat rolls down their faces/As they're given the morning brief." The verses introduce us to different characters of different times, all times of war. And then, after an excellent instrumental section, the song switches to the first person, but still talks about the past, which is interesting. I suppose there will always be wars, because humanity has really not progressed much at all. The feelings are always the same. And so it is the song's final lines that are the most striking: "So I see things different now/When I read the headline news/Every time they say we won/I wonder what we lose." Then "Headin' For A Heartache" has a somewhat lighter, more fun vibe from the start, though the lyrics are about a man "heading for a heartache." It was written by Jon Goldfine and Rick Lang, and Jon takes lead vocals duties (no, it is not a cover of the Juice Newton song). This song gives the album its title in the lines, "It's about to unravel/More than he can handle." There is a bluesy element to this song. The band then gets further into the blues with "Too Little, Too Late," which begins with these lines: "I'm sad, I'm blue/I don't know what to do/You've gone away/To where, I've no clue." This one was written by Chris Dollar, who also sings lead. This track features a particularly good vocal performance, along with some great harmonies. The vocal work is a large part of this track's appeal, helping to make it one of the disc's highlights.
"Love And War" is an intriguing song, the unusual sound and vibe in that first section drawing us in. The track then takes on more of a normal feel for the chorus, which is the repeated line "All is fair in love and war," a line that comes from an 1850 novel, but in a slightly different form was written by a poet nearly three hundred years earlier. This song was written by Jake Howard and Brenna Carroll. That's followed by "Three Seasons," written by Chris Dollar. At the beginning of the album's first track, Chris sang, "I don't know what comes after this," and this one he begins by singing, "Shadows come and go/Don't nobody know just where they go/I wish I knew." Uncertainty is certainly in the air these days. What does any of us really know? "Help me see where the lines are drawn." There is a bright energy to this track, and it contains a wonderful lead on mandolin. That is then followed by a song titled "Space Man." I guess it's clear where my mind is, because I expected this song to be about Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee. Well, it's a fun, playful number, its playfulness apparent from the start, with those vocals shouting "Huh." This one is sung from the perspective of a "man on a mission to outer space." "I've got a one-way ticket on this rocket/On this rocket I ride." And here some certainty is expressed: "When I'm floating through the spaceship/I never know my way around/But there's one thing I'm certain of/And that's how to get down." Wonderful! This one was written by Jake Howard and Brenna Carroll, and is another highlight.
"Poor Boy Like Me" is a love song, written by Jon Goldfine and Rick Lang. Here Jon sings, "I still find it hard to believe/That she could ever fall for/A poor boy like me." But interestingly, before that, he sings, "There's no telling what lies in store," another line expressing uncertainty, clearly a theme of sorts, not just on this album, but in all our lives. And check out that guitar work. So good! The band follows that with "Climb The Mountain." Right at the start, you can sense that this one is going to build up into something special, with strength, with passion, with power. Sure, danger might lie ahead, but there is a sense of resilience here, which is something we need. "Clouds are darkening in the distance/Lightning splits the night to day." This is one of my personal favorites. It was written by Chris Dollar. "Time will pass, whatever happens."
"Honey Will You Be Mine" is the album's final original composition, written by Jon Goldfine and Rick Lang. It's a love song, telling the story of a couple, the first verse relating the beginning of their relationship. The chorus has a wonderfully cheerful vibe. The second verse then jumps ahead many years: "They tried to make each moment last/As their hair turned shades of grey." Things get sadder from there, detailing the end, and not one you'd might expect, with one holding the other's hand. "His true love in the hospital/Didn't make it there on time/Didn't get to say goodbye." Oh man, that is heartrending. But the song doesn't end there, and there is a positive feel at the end. The album then concludes with its sole cover, "Land Of Confusion." Yes, the Genesis song. While at first, that might seem a strange choice, once you begin paying attention to its lyrics (it had been so long since I last heard it), it makes total sense. "Now did you read the news today/They say the danger's gone away/But I can see the fires still alight/They're burning into the night." Yes, fire is mentioned again. "And not much love to go round/Can't you see this is the land of confusion." Yup, that right there is the long and the short of it. I wasn't a big fan of this song when it first came out, but this rendition is making me appreciate it more. "Use them, and let's start trying/To make this a place worth living in."
CD Track List
- Look Up To The Sky
- Palomino
- Line The Avenues
- Headin' For A Heartache
- Too Little, Too Late
- Love And War
- Three Seasons
- Space Man
- Poor Boy Like Me
- Climb The Mountain
- Honey Will You Be Mine
- Land Of Confusion
Unravel was released on April 18, 2025 through Dark Shadow Recording.
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