Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There will always be those that assume with absolute certainty that to display melancholy is an abhorrence, they see it as willingness to wallow in the self-pity or the act of misery, they will openly declare war on you and leave messages condemning you for the dejection and unhappiness they perceive you spread with inner glee. There will always be those people, the best thing to do is ignore them, for melancholy is not a state of downhearted gloom, just perhaps a realisation that at times you need to reflect on what bought you to this point in time and the regret of all you could have done.
It is in this selfless act that the ability to observe becomes overwhelming, it is the spur required in which to change all that you believed could not be altered; melancholy is a reminisce in which understanding fuels creativity, the rawness of your imagination bursting at the seams to bring a different state of mind to the forefront of your chosen belief.
It is in this act of the Carousel turning that Austin’s Carson McHone steps off the roundabout way and takes careful aim at the dark and beautifully evocative figures before her and hits the targets with the artistry of a true story-teller. It is the admission of pushing yourself to a point where containment is no longer an option, where the very act of other fairground attractions loses their meaning, but to which the Carousel still calls freely, its brightly painted songs of delight gently caressing the soul and feeding the appetite of life’s ups and downs.
In newly written material and in the retrospective of updated versions of some of the tracks that appeared on the album Goodluck Man, Carson McHone seeks, and attains sincerity, passionate candour, and in songs such as Drugs, Good Time Daddy Blues, Maybe They’re Just Really Good Friends, Goodluck Man and Spider Song the dedication to the act of growth is a witness to the experience provided by melancholy, by regret, by hope.
Carousel is the ride in which you instinctively to turn to when all around you has lost its appeal, when you have outgrown the cotton candy and the pressure of the white-knuckle torment, it is the canter of the intriguing mind which sets it apart and sees it as the outing you wish to encounter.
Carson McHone releases her album Carousel on January 25th via Loose.
Ian D. Hall