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Mariel Buckley – ‘Everywhere I Used to Be’ review

Listening to Mariel Buckley’s sophomore album ‘Everywhere I Used To Be’ I hear some sonic similarities to Kathleen Edwards, another singer-songwriter from north of the border who has carved a niche in the alternative country/Americana world. Some of that is her accent, but I hear some shared influences, and most especially Lucinda Williams. It really bears saying: there are couple of generations of artists now who are Lucinda’s musical progeny.

While those similarities to Edwards are very real, there are some major differences, too. Edwards is more of a social insider, and Buckley proudly claims the banner of the outsider. She characterizes herself as having been “the town freak” when she was growing up, and some of is this related, unfortunately, to her being queer. ‘Hate This Town’ one of the strong cuts on the LP, gives a very real sense of what this was like for her.

This is not a particularly happy or upbeat album. It’s honest about life’s hardships, especially for artists. In the first track ‘Neon Blue’ the protagonist finds herself faced with a broken restroom, having to “take a piss out in the parking lot.” This kind of frank language will likely put some listeners off, but this isn’t written to appeal to everyone. Buckley says she wrote this album “for losers and underdogs,” and it does have that appeal.

A lot of this album deals with relationships – ‘Going Nowhere,’ ‘Let You Down’ and ‘Love Ain’t Enough’ especially. These aren’t warm sentiments, and they’re not optimistic reflections. They’re very real, and they land hard, but it’s not a journey that everyone is going to take.

Some of the stronger material here relates to place. ‘Hate This Town’ conjures a very real idea of the setting, as does ‘Prairie Town Dreams.’ ‘Driving Around’ evokes the endless spaces the Canadian prairie, and just how daunting that can be. It’s a tender reflection on childhood, and the things we have strange, complex emotional attachments to — here, a skatepark.

While this is sonically very much a country album, one bath in twang and lush pedal steel arrangements, it’s not heavy on conventional country tropes and iconography. The perspective here is  more akin to singer-songwriters than most of the people working in contemporary country. ‘Horse Named Nothing’ is the closest the album gets to using stock country music images, and, even then, Buckley has a light touch with them.

I’ve emphasized this is a not happy album, though it is well-written and performed. This is reinforced by the closer, ‘Sad All The Time’ which delivers exactly as promised. There’s a lot of heartbreak on this album, and Buckley is willing to be honest and expose herself. It’s a brave album, and one that transcends her particular concerns to speak to those of others’. The reasons were my different in my case, but I was definitely the town freak when I was growing up, so a lot of this material hit squarely home. This is not an album written for everyone, but if it’s written for you, you’ll know it and you’ll love it. 

Track list: 1. Neon Blue 2. Whatever Helps You 3. Going Nowhere 4. Driving Around 5. Hate This Town 6. Love Ain’t Enough 7. Everywhere I Used to Be 8. Shooting at the Moon 9. Horse Named Nothing 10. Let You Down Release Date: August 12th Record Label: Birthday Cake Records Buy ‘Everywhere I Used to Be’ now

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