Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Everything we ever believed we desired has arguably turned sour, the so-called Post War dream has more than begun to resemble a nightmare, and the world, once drenched in the fine ideas of change and the hopes of 1960s counterculture, has become a liquid fire, a mantra of dissolution and despondency.
However, there are cool winds of expectations that still live up to the confidence and prospects of the time, that Everything We Thought We Wanted is an actual truth, because at one point what we wanted was peace, a vibe of quality, good times, and decency, and in The Far West’s new album, one rooted in history’s trauma of all that we, as a species and society, have endured in recent memory, the music is a passionate reminder of just how important American song writing as a craft, not as an exercise in self-indulgence.
Self-produced by Dave Trumfio, the album is one highly intelligent resonance, persistent in the demand of respecting the listener, insisting they know they have the right to feel the sonic adventure they seek in abundance, filled with style, a little coy directness and one to whom the lyrics speak freely and with confidence.
In an album that has been through the wringer of possible ill fate, a wildfire, lost masters, and the pressures of dealing with the pandemic, what comes across as tracks such These Lies, Hope I Don’t Bleed, Meet Me Where We Parted Last, In Your Own Time, and the finales of Miss Me Too and Over The Hill, The Far West dig deep into their resourceful mindset, never allowing possible upset to derail them from their vision, and produce an album of exceptional quality driven by images of something more than hope, more than possibility, it is understanding of how the universe works captured in a single album.
Everything We Thought We Wanted is on offer if we should truly seek enlightenment, but only if we forget the disrespect we have shown in the past to the sacred and hallowed aspects of our soul, of the natural, and we dismiss the insanity of chasing the material. A serious example of considerable thought and deliberation pushing at the bounds of humanity and peace.
Ian D. Hall