Nate Sheridan – Tales From A Dying Mind
Nate Sheridan – Tales From A Dying Mind – Album Review
Well would you look at that! I believe some congratulations are in order. You might remember this artist right here from the work he’s put out under the name of Nate Jacobucci, but as it turns out, the young chap has gotten himself hitched to what I’m sure is a wonderful lady, and in the process of getting married, chose to take her last name. How sweet is that? Cheers to the happy couple – we wish them many fantastic years ahead, and Nate Sheridan it shall be from here forward on these pages of ours.
Don’t go thinkin’ that makes this a debut album though. I mean…it IS, technically…but it still ISN’T too. Nate’s well-versed in this whole music thing – he’s been an essential part of the Manitoba music scene for many years now through his solo records, bands like Campfire Sigh & Butterfist Funhouse, and appearances he’s made in the work of others like artist Grant Jesse Prosser’s albums as well. Not only does the guy have a gifted musical mind, from what I can tell, the dude seriously puts it to WORK. He’s a busy, busy man, and we’re always happy to have him back on this site under whatever name he’s going by next. Let’s push play on his brand-new album Tales From A Dying Mind and see what it’s all about.
It’s got that beautiful sound I love to hear from the guy right off the bat, that I can tell ya. As “Fire In My Brain” started up, with that sweetened tinge of slightly Psyche-style Alt-Pop/Folk…what can I tell ya – Nate’s plenty smart enough to know where his strengths lie, and hearing him lean right into them on the opening track was a genuine treat. From the accents of the noodlin’ guitar that are threaded into the background, to the rich sound of the vocals, to the kind of lyricism that should be celebrated for both its poetic value and standout uniqueness…I absolutely love what I’m hearing on “Fire In My Brain.” I like this Sheridan guy! For real, he’s knockin’ it right outta the park with this first impression, and sounding at the best I’ve heard him production-wise. Of all the ingredients, Nate’s voice is the most essential to this first track…and all-in-all, I think there’s an argument to be made that “Fire In My Brain” is one of the most threadbare cuts for what’s included…these are the simple ingredients that make a recipe taste great. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll go on to impress ya with a whole lineup of guest stars and all kinds of bells & whistles added into a bunch of these songs, but sometimes keeping things more straightforward can yield some absolutely remarkable results. Nate’s mesmerizing in the way he sings this song, and the musicianship surrounding him remains tight as tight can be from start to finish – it’s an excellent start.
“Nottingham” is another solid tune towards the start of the lineup. I feel like the way this track moves and the mood it has reminds me of something similar…but I’ll be damned if the name I’m looking for is eluding me right now. Stay tuned on that. I’ll fish it outta the ol’ brain sometime soon (maybe?). What I can tell you, is that “Nottingham” is a smooth, competent Pop/Rock style tune, perfectly executed. There are things about this record that we’ll discuss towards the end, but suffice it to say for now that, a lot of these songs have come from a place of personal despair for Nate this time around…and it feels like when you have all the details, or as many as he’s shared with the release of the album at Bandcamp, you get some additional insight into “Nottingham.” It was Fountains Of Wayne! That’s the name I’ve been looking for. Probably most specifically around the Utopia Parkway album era…that’s the sound that I feel like Nate’s been rocking with, which will come in & out of the sound of this record as a whole, but this song is the first one where it really seemed noticeable. That’s great company to be keeping as far as I’m concerned…great songwriters in that original duo. Anyhow. I drifted off there for a second into a comparison-tangent, when I should have been commenting on how “Nottingham” is probably a much more devastating tune than any of us listeners would realize for what it likely symbolizes for Nate.
Heck yeah! I feel seen. It’s about time someone wrote me a personal anthem I could easily identify with, and here we are – “Loner For Life.” Look…I’m sure both Sheridan and I know what the REAL story is…we’re both happily married…so…technically, not loners I suppose. I’m like, a loner plus-one…the one and only person I really like on this planet, I married. The rest of you are OKAY, but you’re all not her. So believe me, I still feel like I’m a “Loner For Life” and that what Nate is expressing on this song is what I’d consider my overall philosophy & guiding principles to be based on, even if I have another person that has been bravely by my side for more than twenty years now. “Nobody wants me at the party, and I don’t want them” is a BRILLIANT opening line…and if you’ve ever been quite happy to stand off to the sidelines while everybody is on the dance floor having themselves a great time or…*shudder…socializing – then trust me when I tell ya, Nate’s written a song specially for YOU (and most certainly, me). It’s a playful tune, and intended to be so…but at the same time, you probably don’t end up writing a song like “Loner For Life” without having experienced some of the situations that Nate so artfully describes here.
“Princess” was the track that had me wondering whether or not I liked it at all, or if I might have even loved it. I mean…this is as POP as it can be…BUT…if you’re really digging into this tune beyond its super shiny sound, there’s quite a well-written tune at the core of this song. It’s got a serious thread to it, that is essentially all about what relationships with self-absorbed people can be like…but it’s also got a highly humorous side-plot going on as well if you’re paying close attention. I had my moments here and there with the vocal flow/melody…but I mean…c’mon…I gotta side with our man Nate at the end of the day – I trust his instincts, and to be fair, “Princess” continued to grow on me as I listened to it throughout the week. It took some convincing though, and I suppose that’s worth noting. Not many of Nate’s tunes need to sell me all that much…I’m usually into’em right away. I resisted “Princess” for as long as I could, and I think it ended up being the strength of the lyrical content & cleverness of the backing vocals that eventually brought me onboard. There are strong elements found in what’s a very, very pretty sound – Nate leans into the glimmer and shimmering vibes of “Princess,” which admittedly, is a perfect pairing between the concepts at this song’s core, and what we hear. I’m not saying that’s enough for me to put it in with what I consider the best or most balanced material on the album, but I will say in defense of this song, that it’s probably among the most forward & direct in terms of saying what needs to be said to someone out there that really needs to hear it. Chances are, being the “Princess” they are, it’ll all fly right over their head & such…but at least Nate can take solace in the fact the rest of us are hearing him. We all know a “Princess” or two, don’t we? Pains in the asses they are – they all “take and never give.”
Dude’s such a wonderfully creative guy, but his professionalism is every bit as compelling. You’ll hear ideas like “Nothing Will Ever Be The Same” that show a complete mastery of melody from the lowest of tones in the vocals – supplied by Jarek Anderson’s baritone voice, to the highest tones that Nate sings with, and you’ll probably be as amazed as I was about how full a song like this can sound with relatively little going on. This is a brilliantly effective combination, and that main magic is all happening right there on the microphone. As far as the lyricism is concerned, it’s actually pretty damn bleak…like…bleaker than bleak…bleakest of the bunch…you get it. For as upbeat as it might appear, there’s a lot about “Nothing Will Ever Be The Same” that highlights the hollowness you feel after you’ve lost someone special. “Indeed I know that anywhere I go it’ll still be there, but I don’t know where to go from here.” You feel that or what y’all? Nate’s done an excellent job of detailing the confusion we feel when the steady ground we thought we were standing upon completely gives way. You just wanna pack your shit and go, but as far as I’ve learned, the memories, thoughts, and feelings we have, all come along with us.
On my initial spin, I was pretty damn confident that “Jerk Of All Jerks” was gonna be right up there with my favorites on this record. “I threw a grenade and it blew up. Now everyone’s mad, but I feel good.” You’d be surprised by how genuinely gorgeous this all sounds. Nate’s always had one foot in the past when it comes to where he draws his inspirations from in his sonic palette, and it’s a large part of the allure of his music. In so many ways, so many of his tunes sound like something we’ve heard in some way, shape or form throughout music’s history…yet, the guy is able to make it all so extraordinarily relevant at the same time. It’s irresistible, truly. Something like “Jerk Of All Jerks” shows he’s got all the skills of a Ben Folds, while also revealing his love for the same golden age melodic patterns that bands like Weezer & Fountains Of Wayne consistently thread into their music as well. It’s profoundly amazing that the same happy guy that just went and got married is putting out a song called “Jerk Of All Jerks,” which is more or less about not ever being able to satisfy everyone in a relationship…or at least, I think. I dunno…it could be Joe Goldberg’s anthem from the show called You for all I know…but yeah…”Jerk Of All Jerks” sways sweetly and cuts deep at the same time, you know what I mean? Obviously songs these are written in the past, but let’s hope that our buddy Nate has found himself to a better place than the state he was in.
I mean, if cuts like “Princess” or “Phantom Limb” were to be examples of tracks I might not have been as jazzed about as the others in this set-list, do you realize what great shape that’d put Nate in? I haven’t even said I don’t like these tunes outright, because that’s genuinely not the case – I completely admire the guy’s compositional skills and mind-blowing commitment to whatever task he’s workin’ on. I’m still human like the rest of you, and there are tracks that stand out to my ears that are more suited to my own personal taste perhaps, but make no mistake – I appreciate ALL of what he’s created on Tales From A Dying Mind. There were days over the course of this past week in listening to this album where I’d come around and feel like “Phantom Limb” was every bit as kickass as the rest! Again…devastating AF if you’re really examining the lyricism up close…”Phantom Limb” once again deals with the scathing defeat of loss, and in this particular instance, from what I can tell, it sounds like the “Phantom Limb” in question is actually a whole-ass person. Whatever it is that Nate had gone through, to be honest, it sounds like the dude barely survived it…”part of me has died forever and it can never be repaired.” I wish I could make records that sound as good as this one does after experiencing heartbreak or a major loss or both…at the very least, Nate’s found a way to turn his personal tragedy into an artistic triumph. The songs, yes, even including “Princess” and “Phantom Limb” all sound better than they ever have. Part of that is certainly due to the powerful emotions and content that Nate has created, but let’s also give a shout-out to Jeremy Rusu, who plays a music store’s worth of instruments on the album, and mixed it as well. Between the two of them, even songs I wasn’t as immediately jazzed about sounded every bit as great as the rest, and their commitment to the material has been entirely second to none.
It’s the CRAFTSMANSHIP y’all, you feel me? By the time I get to “Falling Through,” I can’t do anything but acknowledge that Nate really has been at his best throughout the course of this set-list, and that there hasn’t been an audible inch of wasted space. Everything has been so damn well thought-out and truly considered, that you can’t help but realize how much effort it would take to be THIS prepared. Nate came to play with Tales From A Dying Mind, and you can absolutely hear it in the results. With “Falling Through,” he’s like, part Beach Boys and part Fountains Of Wayne…and that’s all awesomeness to me. I am gonna go ahead and put “Falling Through” in the ol’ guilty pleasures section of my life’s soundtrack all the same though…this is like trying to bring back the 50s/60s sound into the modern day, and probably doesn’t fit right next to IDLES at the top of my playlist. Don’t get it twisted though, I very much dig the roots of the sound in this tune, and the execution on “Falling Through” is a highlight example of how Nate & his fellow musicians dedicate themselves to the task with true professionalism. “Falling Through” is about as catchy as it gets in its main hooks, and more irresistible than you’ll think.
“Crisis” is an absolutely killer track. The first time I heard it, I was like…man…it’s got a bit more of a Pop-style sound to its Rock-filled core, but like…Nate’s a stone’s throw away from doing something you’d expect to find on an album by The Black Angels here on “Crisis.” Sometimes he leans into that whole Psychedelic vibe more than he does with other songs, but believe me when I tell ya, it’s almost always present and accounted for in some type of way. Love the guitars in this tune…love the way that Nate sings this with a little bit of extra edge in his voice that almost gives him a Scott Weiland-esque sound in the chorus…”Crisis” is built on a collage of brilliantly widespread style & sound, resulting in a hybrid cut that is practically prismatic – no matter which angle you listen to it from, it sparkles and shines with its clever combinations. Spoiler alert…”Crisis” likely explains what’s been getting at Nate as directly as it could ever be done – “my cousin passed away and so did half my soul.” I don’t wanna be the guy that tells you to not cry because it’s over, and instead smile because it happened…but to describe someone as “half my soul” certainly implies a deep relationship that most folks don’t often get to have in the course of one lifetime. In any event…I wish Nate all the best. I know this stuff doesn’t get any better over time, just easier to process and handle day to day…he’s always going to miss that cousin, but the memory continues to live on in the hearts of those that remain, as they say. I appreciate the raw and honest approach he’s taken with “Crisis” and how revealing it is. Even without the potent lyrical content I probably would have still cited this track as one of the album’s most essential tracks…it’s got such an impressively malleable vibe to it that morphs its melody in brilliantly entertaining ways as it plays on.
Rusu, who has played such a significant role throughout so many of the songs on this record and has credits for his contributions that stretch out longer than your arms do, becomes like a one-man orchestral accompaniment on “No Way Out.” For real…he’s responsible for the acoustic guitar, the banjo, the autoharp, the ukulele, the alto sax AND the tenor sax on “No Way Out” – that’s a TON for one dude to play, ain’t it? Alongside Cody Rey Valentonis playing bass, Grant Jesse Prosser on the electric guitar, and Steve Martens on the tambourine – the five of these players supply everything you’ll hear, and that’s impressive y’all. If I’m being real with ya, it’s probably the saxophones that are making this particular track for me personally. I do really like the way Grant’s guitar chimes in at points between the vocals, and Nate’s lyricism continues to be mired in despair beyond what you normally experience on a record. Take it from a guy that grew up in the fucking GRUNGE era y’all…Sheridan is STRUGGLING, to the point that if you didn’t read the excerpt that comes along with the album, that you’d probably be inclined to call a hotline or two and get this guy some help. So on the one hand…points for realism…you can’t escape the punishing emotions that are woven into the fabric of the DNA of this entire record, but yeah…if you’re not too careful, listening to an album like this could plunge any one of us into a deep depression of our own. Ever the master of contrast, there’s such an upbeat vibe to half of the songs on Tales From A Dying Mind that it’ll certainly be easy for Nate to pick out who’s really listening from who isn’t. I have been…and lemme tell ya firsthand…as pleasant as it sounds and as flawlessly as it has been produced, I don’t know that Nate’s released an album for everyday consumption here. This is the kind of record that, when you reach for it, you’re in a very specific mood and you NEED to hear these songs.
Again, there are so precious few tunes on this record that sound like something you might remotely question. I’ve cited a couple with “Princess” & “Phantom Limb” – and I’d probably add “Out Of My Hands” to that short stack as well…but again, to be crystal-freaking-clear, I enjoy every single one of these songs on a personal level. I look at it like this…”Princess” was so sugary sweet in its sound that I practically got a cavity just by listening to it…”Phantom Limb” felt a bit more mood dependent at times when I’d listen…and “Out Of My Hands” simply felt a bit on the easier-side of what Nate chooses to create. None of those comments should disqualify any of’em from being ingested by your ears, they are merely observations. Ultimately, I don’t think he really wrote this album for us anyway…this is something that he wrote for himself, so that he’ll be able to write another album for you, one day after the healing has fully kicked in. You need these records though…this is what real art and music is all about…it’s supposed to be a sort of journal that documents what life is like to live it, and all the myriad of things we go through. “Out Of My Hands” has kind of got this like…R.E.M.-meets-The LAs type of sound to it…I really don’t mind it at all. I think the verses have stronger hooks than the chorus does, but so what? There ain’t no rules on that kind of stuff. The catharsis and healing was what Nate went searching for in making this album, and I sincerely hope he found what he was looking for. The fact that he somehow found the strength to share this experience of loss with all of us speaks volumes about his character – but what I truly hope is that you listen & listen close, so that he knows he’s truly not alone.
“Tales From A Dying Mind” is absolutely up there with the best of the best on this album, and it’s the only one that’s rocked entirely instrumentally. Now…folks…if you have been reading, and you get just how much I love Nate’s use of vocals, you’d immediately understand how awesome his title track would have to be in order to be considered up there with the best it has to offer, right? It’s just so fantastically well-played and produced to perfection. Parts of it are like you’re slipping right into the sequel for what started back in the solos of “Hotel California” long ago, with bass grooves and a cinematic sound that can easily send “Tales From A Dying Mind” closer to the depth in what you’d expect to find in a Pink Floyd tune. Franco Ezequiel Páez lends his time and talents to the orchestration you’ll hear within this instrumental cut, and Nate’s piano playing is right there in the center of the spotlight as the leading reason you’d wanna tune in to listen. For as much as I’ve spun this record over the past week or so, I don’t know that I ever felt like this track was ever knocked from the pedestal I ended up putting it on – I really think this is the crown jewel. You know how happy it makes me to find artists or bands that typically have vocals doing something instrumental? BEYOND WORDS (Pun intended!). For real though, all kidding aside, I mean it…to me, that’s about as clear-cut of an example as you could point to in regards to someone out there choosing to do what suits the song. Because that’s all you ever need to do y’all…just tap into what your song is really calling out for, and do that – nothing more. That’s the magic…that’s how to win the battle…that’s how to say everything, even without a single word. This whole composition on “Tales From A Dying Mind” is award-worthy stuff if you ask me, and it’s only rivaled by how Nate and his collective of musical cohorts have played it – this is aces, all around.
There’s not too much left to say after all that went unsaid in that last instrumental, but you get one more tiny little observational tune with “This Is How It Ends” to finish it off. It’s a reflective song that’s rooted deeply in philosophy…the cycle of life to a degree…the objective feelings of it all being out of our control…honestly, it’s a perfect conclusion to what has been a completely magnificent record from start to finish. If you’re tuning in to Tales From A Dying Mind from Bandcamp, you’ll notice that the write-up that comes along with it right after the track listing, mentions how Nate was going through some wildly troubled times in making this album…and I feel like you kind of hear that more on “This Is How It Ends” perhaps more than any other cut in the lineup. For a song that’s only 1:27 in length, he’s put such an enormous amount of authentic emotion and weight into this final song that it becomes such a real moment in time you can’t help but notice. I was actually quite surprised by how attached I grew to this short little song…but I suppose it’s all about the impact something makes, and never the length. Nate plays this with purpose, intent, and genuine emotional intensity…to the point where it could very well propel a song like “This Is How It Ends” into becoming one of the listener’s favorite songs from this album. Overall…I can’t help but feel like this is Nate’s best work to-date…Jacobucci, and/or Sheridan. It might be heartbreaking, but it’s as honest, raw, and real as it comes…just the way that great music is supposed to be.
Find out more about Nate Sheridan from his official page at Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063504185912
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