John Calvin Abney: Tourist
All photos by Barbara Creamer
What do you say when the word goes by through a window? How do you talk about home when the ground always seems to be shifting under your feet? John Calvin Abney answers this throughout the narrative weaved into Tourist. With this album, you get the feeling of going home to the same landscape and piece of nostalgia, but there is also a layer of deja vu or perhaps a sensation of the uncanny valley. Nothing is different, yet somehow nothing is the same. Also an expression of a life lived passing through towns from one stop to the next. Two themes somehow juxtapose to a single sentiment that’s difficult to put into words, unless you're John Calvin Abney, who somehow knows exactly how to do just that.
Electronic pulses, familiar storyteller vocals, and a lyrical sentiment that’s literal at times, metaphorical in others, sometimes even bordering the abstract. John Moreland, the only collaborator on the record, recently had a release with Birds in the Ceiling and it’s difficult not to draw some parallels. Where there were electronic instruments in the background of Moreland’s record, they took some frontline duties on Tourist. The storytelling and emotional output of both records makes it evident how these songwriters find respectful common ground in one another.
Abney’s music is very difficult to throw in an “if you like that, try this” box. There’s pop elements and indie folk elements. An eclectic taste which ranges from Japanese pop to The War On Drugs throws a palette of interesting colors together for Abney to paint reflections about the motion of life, in all its glory, while not ignoring all of its tragedy. These elements marry in a way that has a cadence and feel that you’ll get lost in, snap out of into an extremely heavy one liner, and then drift back into a musically light texture. The album, at times, feels like the saddest present wrapped in the happiest wrapping paper. Abney sees Tourist as a companion to his 2020 release Familiar Ground, but unlike that record, this feels somehow like an acceptance, but not a concession; things are not perfect, but maybe they’re the right kind of imperfect. There’s a lot of deep thought packaged in an easy to listen to record that really does a great job of keeping interest throughout. This is an album that to my ears is best digested in stages, and in a few different settings. There’s a lot of depth that becomes obvious the more you listen. It’s a joy to listen to at first, and continues to reward you as you peel back the layers.
Tourist landed on 8/5/22 wherever you digest music. Whether you need that last summer record, a lost soul fading into the background to lament with you, or you just need another great release to listen to, don't miss this one.
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