J Holmes – HONEYHORSE

J Holmes – HONEYHORSE – Album Review

There we go!  I just feel like I’m more spiritually aligned when I can hear things going in the right direction for J Holmes.  I’ll admit, I was a little on the worried side when I pushed play – this dude has made a LOT of music this year, to the point where I was concerned he might be rushing things for a hot minute or two…but I suppose it’s equally true that if you keep on throwin’ darts you’ll eventually hit the bullseye too, right?  J hits the target more than most, I’ll tell ya that.  Whether it’s what he’s been creating in his band FVRMN, or within his growing solo catalog, he’s got a signature sound of his own that always warrants a listen.  It’s in telling you all this, that I can confirm it was no real surprise to hear him start off the record with such a strong & delicate tune called “Blue Jeans” – at his most focused, this dude is capable of great things.  This opening track has a brilliantly gentle rhythm to it, and comes with that…oh it’s probably a pedal steel guitar…could be a lap steel I suppose…could be that I don’t really know the difference between the two, but you know the sound I’m talkin’ about, and it’s a wonderful addition to the music on “Blue Jeans.”  Quality hook from J in his vocals for the chorus, the verses are loaded with engaging sound all around if you ask me…”Blue Jeans” is this mellow, unassuming type of tune that you’ll listen to a couple times before realizing just how strong your attachment to it became.

I tell ya…J’s cruisin’ along right from the start of this record, and as he slides into the smooth melody that warms and fuels “The Day That You Were Born,” you really get that feeling early on in the lineup of HONEYHORSE that things are going to work out great for Holmes this time around.  As I’ve mentioned in a bunch of different instances where you get a member of a band going solo, you wanna hear some kind of audible difference in the material…a reason that you chose to go the solo route, instead of just bring another song to your band, you feel me?  You wanna hear something that maybe the band wouldn’t even do really.  I listen to a track like “The Day That You Were Born” and feel like this is an excellent representation of what J Holmes likely wanted to do outside of his music in FVRMN, and while I’m sure the band would indulge him if he pushed the issue, I think it’s a wise choice to understand which gear of his music goes where.  Essentially, “The Day That You Were Born” might have worked as a FVRMN song, but it absolutely thrives here in the solo side of his musical persona.  I love how gentle this whole track appears, yet if you’re listening really closely, it’s got this kickass layer of some extremely distorted guitar playing just underneath the surface to give the texture that signature crunch that Holmes loves so much.  Juxtaposed with the contrast of the smoothness of the bass, pedal steel, and sweetness in the vocals & lyricism, that crunch accounts for a ton of the way this song generates such a sensory vibe.  Believe me when I tell ya, you’ll notice how staggeringly clean “The Day That You Were Born” will sound when that one guitar layer gets stripped out for a moment or two.  I’m personally on J’s side…it’s a sound that I love and I’m thankful it’s in more of this tune than it is out of it.  There’s just something so College Rock about that sound…and the way J’s got it threaded in here so professionally felt really special to listen to.

“Blue Bonnet Woman” is another stellar example of how much this guy has found the right way to expand on his melodies, using strings and such to take the song into a potently emotional place.  When I first crossed paths with J online years ago, I don’t think he was quite here yet, you know what I mean?  He was always a great songwriter, but he was sticking much closer to the dude with a guitar script than he is today.  Now he’s enlisting all kinds of guest stars, landing legendary names to lend a hand, and in general, he’s become more daring with his art, especially when you consider how he’s branched out from what he creates in FVRMN to do what he’s doin’ solo now…it all makes a difference for all the right reasons.  Plus, you get the added advantage that, when you’re really doing something different than what you’d do in your band like he does with “Blue Bonnet Woman,” you don’t threaten the legacy or impact either creative outlet can make individually.  Now…do I love “Blue Bonnet Woman?”  How about, I love a lot of “Blue Bonnet Woman” – that fair enough?  I’ve got a few moments that I wrestle with back & forth about a note or tone here & there in the way J sings this song…but I think the only reason I feel that way is because like, 98% of this song came out so ridiculously strong that you’d be bound to notice if even the slightest hair felt outta place.  I assure you nothing is so dramatic that it would stop me from listening…the closest it gets is the line towards the end where J sings “just as long as I’m there” & takes his tone up a little too far towards what you might find in a musical for my own taste, but it’s nothing too detrimental.  The facts are the facts…there’s way more going right in this song than anything wrong.

Word on the street is that “Foolin’” is the official lead single from HONEYHORSE…and if you look below, I’m confident you’ll see a video down there somewhere to confirm that for ya.  I like the backing vocals added into this tune and how the female sound really enhances the melody in this song.  It helps this track stand out in a more unique way, while still adhering tightly to the kind of sound that Holmes wants to create.  He’s got such an amazing sense of how to structure a melody and where to shift his chords and all that…it’s really led J to this uncanny ability to generate such convincing sincerity within his vocals and the songs he writes, which you’ll hear on full display throughout “Foolin.’”  Is it the single though?  I’m not opposed to the choice, how about that?  I might have been tempted to go with either of the first two tunes, but I’m not dissatisfied with him choosing “Foolin’” for the role.  It’s a high quality testament to the hazy drunken vibes he likes to create…love shrouded by the obstacles of human nature and such, weighed down by internal examination and his innately poetic observations.  The more I listened to this track, the more I felt like I appreciated how crucial the backing vocals were to this song.  Love the guitar solo too…bonus points for the sensational tones found there…all-in-all, it’s a highly satisfying moment on HONEYHORSE, and I’d imagine “Foolin’” will generally be very well received by listeners out there.

You gotta love it.  You get to “Punk Rock Revue” and you’re like, expecting J to maybe crank things up a little bit energy-wise, but no.  Instead, you’ll hear that pedal steel right there in the instrumentation at the start again…and I kind of grinned when I heard it.  Is there a Punk Rock song with a pedal steel in it?  Music has created so many strange combos along the way…I’m sure it’s been done…but you get the idea – it’s like a Nutella and cheese sandwich…you probably like both ingredients, but would they ever really go together?  They wouldn’t here either – but to be fair to J, that wasn’t what he was going for.  It might mention Punk Rock in the title, but this song doesn’t go that way stylistically.  J’s been in a mellower mood so far for HONEYHORSE, and it might have been a little strange to throw a hard Punk Rock curveball at us at this point in the record, and it’s probably wise that he didn’t.  With verses that dangle real close to the rhythm and sway you’d find in something like “Dancing In The Dark,” Holmes makes it deviate just enough to be its own thing, and goes on to establish further differences within the song’s main hooks.  “Punk Rock Revue” is kind of like his own personal homage to the shows he likely would have gone to back in the day…shows I probably would have been happy to go to myself, like the ones we had here in Vancouver long ago, where you could see ten local Punk on a bill for three bucks split in total.  Different times, different world…and let’s be real here – you always got more value out of those shows than you could ever imagine.  “Right there on the corner,” there’d be some “Punk Rock Revue” in town happening somewhere if you knew where to look.  I miss those days, and it sounds like J does too.

“The Red Wasp” might very well be the longest track I’ve ever seen in J’s catalog.  I’d have to check that statement for accuracy, but considering how many songs I’ve heard from this guy to this point, that’s really saying something.  He’s usually been much more apt to keep things short, or likely was when I first started listening…and personally, I think he’s done a great job of getting a bit more length and mileage outta his material these days.  I think that’s the unspoken aspect of short songs – they can be great to listen to for sure, but the fundamental reason those songs are as short as they are is simply because they probably wouldn’t hold up that well over time if they were longer than they are.  The flipside of that coin, is that you can end up making longer tracks for the sake of not being short…and there’s a fine line in between these things to attempt to navigate as a songwriter/artist.  I don’t know that “The Red Wasp” completely succeeds in thrilling us with how its length is filled, but I’m not unhappy with it by any stretch of the imagination either.  It’s a slow-burner…no doubt about that.  So, sure, to a degree, I can hear that some folks are gonna get a little restless with this track nearing the 6:30 mark, but I look at “The Red Wasp” more like how I view the deep cuts on any album.  It’s not going to be the main draw that sends people back for another spin through HONEYHORSE by comparison to the songs that surround it at first, but there’s a mighty good chance this becomes one of the strongest reasons to come back to the album over time.  We all have those songs that grow on us…that’s basically what a deep cut is at the core of it all…and I’m certain that “The Red Wasp” will eventually get its due share of the credit.

I really like the contemplative sound of “Doll” and the introspective vibes that J is working with on this song.  One of the most subtle charmers on the record, Holmes has always had a genuine gift for the slower stuff, you know what I mean?  Dude can rock a fast or up-tempo tune…I’ve heard’em do it with my own two ears…but he’s got an irresistible magic when it comes to the slow tunes that seems to give the mellower energy the edge in his catalog, at least from my perspective.  I get that there aren’t going to be people out there jumping up and down in excitement about a track like “Doll” – I mean, I think that includes J himself if I’m being fully honest with ya…it’s just not the kind of song that stimulates that kind of physical excitement inside us – but it is the kind of song that you’ll genuinely marvel at.  You’ll sit and listen to “Doll,” maybe even on repeat, and you’ll realize how strongly it speaks to you while J is using his most delicate whispers.  Chances are, this is a love song of sorts…or one that details the struggle with love, the fear of wanting it too much, or even being afraid of its real power over him, but it’s really well masked within its lyricism to the point where you could give several meanings to this tune.  Like, that whole verse that makes it seem like we’ve shifted into a jail cell…chances are, I’d like to think, that’s most likely metaphorical – but even if it is, the fictional aspect is still just as evocative as any of the realer feelings could be described.  J does melancholy extremely well & this is a highlight example of that talent he has in action…in one of the most low-key moments on his new record, he shines bright.

To an extent, if you wanted to call “Mrs. Graves” one of the most mature songs you’ve heard in the J Holmes catalog to-date, I don’t think you’d get much of an argument from me in return.  It’s certainly complete, well balanced, and polished up real nice…it’d be kind of hard to complain about this tune I’d say.  It’s like…the audible definition of quaint really.  Comforting, in an odd way…because obviously while it sounds pleasant, it is still going to contain J’s wonderfully odd perspective and view of the world in the spirit of his lyricism, so…yeah…it’ll feel comforting to listen to, but it still runs deeper than the sound itself does, if that makes any sense.  That switch into the chorus, where Holmes sings “Can you take the time” is another genuine highlight though…probably right up there with my favorite moments on the record.  I just love that it seems to come somewhat outta the blue.  “Mrs. Graves” didn’t seem like it was going to do too much of anything you might feel inclined to describe as profound, but that’s part of how J is able to sneak up on ya with the music he makes at times.  I’m sitting here, just about ready to write “Mrs. Graves” off as kind of an ordinary, straightforward tune…and then the man shifts the melody in just the right way that it becomes seriously enchanting and outright mesmerizing to listen to.  I really can’t imagine anyone out there making strong objections to this tune for any reason though – it’s a truly nice experience.  It’s music that ain’t gonna bite you so much as welcome you to sit & listen.

Gonna take a bit of a pass on “One More Day On The Line” though I think.  Don’t get me wrong, J’s always got his songwriting chops on display in any tune that you listen to, and ultimately, I’d still tell you that this one is well-written too.  There’s a chasm of space in between any concept and its execution though, and I feel like this time around he might have forced this one outta the incubator before it was fully ready to be hatched.  He’s got such a low-down tone of voice that I can only imagine how tough it would be to get to the melodies he’s looking for most of the time…and to completely fair to the guy, more often than not, he manages to get to where he wants to go.  Occasionally on a tune or two on just about any given album whether it’s his solo stuff or what he creates in FVRMN, that lower register he’s got tries to betray him with a few tones that color outside of the lines or clash with the main melody at the heart of what he’s creating.  I can hear the vocal issues of “One More Day On The Line” right from the get-go, and sadly, they became even more of an obstacle as the song continued on.  Writing-wise, I’m with the guy – he’s got a great song in the works here, and I’d readily tell you that with some more time and experience in learning this one forward & backwards, “One More Day On The Line” could go on to become the special tune it’s meant to be.  Right now as it stands, it’s still more hit than miss when it comes right down to it I reckon, but the split is more divided than it has been on any other track on HONEYHORSE, to the point where it feels like good idea or not, this might just get skipped by the masses.  Bonus points for the organ & piano work on this tune though…like I said, the potential is there.

It might just be a couple songs too long is all.  I don’t mind “Strange Piece” at the end, but I’m not going to say it’s the track this album needed to finish it off or make it complete either.  In some ways, I feel just about the same as I did with “One More Day On The Line” in that something about this doesn’t quite feel like it’s completely ready for us yet.  On the other, more brutal side of the scenario, I hear a song very much worth saving in “One More Day On The Line,” and I’m probably way less convinced that the same level of potential exists on “Strange Piece.”  Where additional layers of backing vocals has relatively worked out for the man to this point on the record, even that seems to feel like a bit of an awkward fit in this last track.  Which makes it even stranger to listen to, because that comes along in the main hook of the chorus, which I feel like we were kind of banking on to rescue this track from being something fairly ordinary.  I’ll be the first to tell ya I needed a little more from Holmes at the end of the set-list on HONEYHORSE, but I mean, hey…if we’re saying that this lineup of songs is frontloaded because the first EIGHT of ten came out so well, that’s probably a great example of a nice problem to have.  The dude surprises me sometimes…I have no doubt that J hears music in a way that the rest of us, myself included, just don’t.  So occasionally, we get into situations like these at the end of this record, where I’m wondering what the heck he’s hearing that I’m not in the final two songs on HONEYHORSE.  It’s probably one of those things where you get so close to what you create that it’s hard to let go of anything…but yeah…objectively, from my side of the speakers, both “One More Day On The Line” and “Strange Piece” need more time to bring them to their full potential.  As to whether or not each is worth getting out the wrenches to go back and tinker with’em underneath the hood…I dunno.  I think the hook of “Strange Piece” in the chorus could go on to be something more special than it currently shows us, but even if that was the case, the rest of the song around it could still use more spark than it has too.  So it might be a case of retooling the entire thing, or abandoning it entirely to move on to whatever’s next.

Overall though, I’m stoked about what I hear on HONEYHORSE, so don’t go twisting my words around.  I don’t know that it has a ton of material that really jumps out at us or generates that excitement that can come along with listening to new music, but it speaks strongly on behalf of the consistency of J Holmes.

Find more tunes by J Holmes at Apple Music:  https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/j-holmes/1762772481

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