There was a palpable sadness on the folk and Americana scene in Belfast when their adopted son Gentry Morris returned to the United States earlier this year and yet also a feeling that with the disquiet of post-Troubles Northern Irish life and the ever-homeward-looking sound of Morris’ earlier musical exploits that this was not a wholly unexpected event.
‘The Next Great Ghost Town’ begins with wistful remembrance of home – the tales of sad sinners and a lack of summer days beautifully put on ‘Sunshine’. The disillusionment and longing is clear from the off with a catchy Springsteen sounding hook unable to belie the inherent sadness of the lyric. ‘Death of the Good Old Days’ is the counterfoil here; a more Americana themed look back on summer’s days, youth and innocent, sounding for all the world like an afternoon on a front porch listening to Jackson Browne 45s. At times, dangerously close to the schtick of ‘Summer of ‘69’, its saving grace is the understated production and a lack of godawful stadium rock posturing. What could have become a shambolic effort caught somewhere between Bryan Adams and Brian Fallon has become a car stereo tune, leaving the sun setting in the rear-view, a solid country-rock record to leave the city behind to.
With all the talk of Nashville and American themes abounding, it’s an unsurprising relief that the remainder of the record falls into camp Ryan rather than Bryan when it comes to Adams references. ‘Where Do We Go’ is laced with that lost confusion that the poster boy for emotional Americana angst played out so well in the post-Whiskeytown years while ‘Slow Decline’ transcends to the levels of indie-folk anthem. There’s the obvious longing for a loved one here but also a song longing for the audience to recite that refrain, to wrap up live sets, to leave into the cool of the night air still humming the chorus. It marks a turning point in Morris’ songwriting. It’s worship music for the whiskey-soaked soul.
The eyes closed, understated anthem rolls nicely into ‘Waste Your Life’; part love letter and part warning to us all coming from a man who hasn’t wasted a minute on the writing or recording of ‘The Next Great Ghost Town’. It swings out low like Foy Vance’s ‘Guiding Light’ but yet it’s unmistakably the sound of the all-new, improved, journeyman Gentry Morris.
As a closing track, as a concept and as a record ‘The Next Great Ghost Town’ is a letter of closure to Belfast and a homecoming to her sister city and fellow potential ghost town of Nashville. References here to “a road chose long ago” and a sound that harks back to 2010’s ‘Fools Gold’ marks the sign off, the farewell, the step down from the plane onto a dusty Nashville street. It may not be where Gentry’s always been but this is where the music has always called home.
‘The Next Great Ghost Town’