Arlo McKinley
Die Midwestern
Oh Boy
Listen Below
A great singer-songwriter doesn't need anything other than a singing voice and an instrument. However, that puts a lot of weight on the lyrics, which then need to be exceptional enough to replace the different musical textures that would come from other instruments. Plus, there's an intimacy to voice and instrument that can feel overwhelming, with nowhere for an artist to hide but their vocals and some skeletal musical accompaniment.
Eventually, the listener adjusts to the intensity of all of this one-on-one time, and the songs start to feel less charged, but it's an emotional journey to get to that place of acceptance. Arlo McKinley understands that great songs land more easily when they're cushioned by musical accoutrements, which is what makes Die Midwestern, his solo debut, so enjoyable.
McKinley, from Cincinnati, makes this debut at age 40, having spent some time with a band, The Lonesome Sound, that self-released a live album in 2014. He was the final act John Prine signed to his Oh Boy label before the songwriting legend’s passing earlier this year, so getting to this album has been a voyage. Songwriters often try to avoid too many musical flourishes for fear of taking the focus off of the songs. McKinley wisely enhances his work with piano tinkles, organ groans, and fiddle cries, all of which help bring out his moving melodies, giving the album the feeling of a tighter-yet-more-down-home Band.
The title track sways on a country beat, violin pulling the song along into an anthemic chorus that's equal parts rock & roll and modern country, but with a heart, brain, and soul. The music and melodies are enticing, but they also frame the lyrics, which while sad, are just as charming, the narrator grappling with what they know they need to do after a break-up: "Another Cincinnati Saturday night / And I hate what that has become / And I’ve been thinking that I should go / Cause if I don’t leave now then I’m never gonna leave Ohio."
McKinley manages to pack a lot of surprises into 10 songs, constructing a bit of an Americana sampler. "The Hurtin's Done" is a power ballad in the vein of Lynyrd Skynyrd. "She's Always Around," is pure country, complete with barrelhouse piano and a McKinley vocal performance that feels like it's wafting out of an AM radio circa 1951. And "Suicidal Saturday Night," about criminals on the run, even features a chorus melody that almost syncs up with Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." And while fully acknowledging that comparison says more about me than about McKinley, the association shows his willingness to play with pop, perhaps subconsciously, and, if only for a moment, to give yet another dimension to a song.
McKinley could have recorded this with sparse instrumentation and it still would have been an impressive debut. He's got a strong-yet-vulnerable voice, a dramatic sense of melody, and lyrics that pull you into the song. But by taking the strong frames of these songs and building on them instrumentally, he's taken something structurally sound and transformed it into something that sounds beautiful.
Part of Die Midwestern's promotion revolves around highlighting the perception of McKinley's advanced age (I’m half a decade older, so perhaps there’s a bit of personal pride in this indignation), but doesn't acknowledge a music industry that's youth obsessed and soul-killing. The miracle isn't so much that someone is releasing a debut album at 40, so much as that they're releasing anything adult and meaningful at all. McKinley isn't a wunderkind, but this smart, mature album is coming out at precisely the right time.
Notable Tracks: “Die Midwestern” | “The Hurtin’s Done” | “She’s Always Around” | “Suicidal Saturday Night”
BUY Die Midwestern via Bandcamp
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