MARK ERELLI
Hope & Other Casualties
True North Records
· Songwriter Mark Erelli gets political.
There are two schools of post-9-11 American songwriters. Mark Erelli falls squarely to the left of the pack alongside the Dixie Chicks and Steve Earle. On Hope & Other Casualties, Erelli’s songwriting takes a more politicized turn than on his previous work.
While retaining his traditional music influences and writing from a very personal perspective, songs on this album incorporate a lot of mentions of "The Red, White and Blue" and some healthy touches of Christianity. Lyrically, his rhyming couplets are airtight, predictably phrased and loaded with American imagery.
Musically, this album is quite palatable. Erelli’s voice is handsome and the instruments (including various acoustic guitars, mandolin, banjo and celestaphone) are all played and recorded beautifully.
The songs’ sentiments did get to me though, leaving the world a better place for our children; working towards a more peaceful world; the passing of the seasons as a metaphor for the ups-and-downs of a love relationship; homelessness should never happen in America. God loves everyone.
This album, however tuneful and inoffensive it is musically, is laden with clichés and doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
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