THE MOUNTAIN GOATS
Get Lonely
4AD
· John Darnielle will always be the saddest man in the room.
John Darnielle is the only musician who has ever made me cry. Oh sure, I’ve cried before when listening to music – usually because a song I heard on the radio made me recall a specific time and place in my life when something really bad had happened. However, Darnielle is the only one who made me cry based on what he was saying, not necessarily because of what I was feeling – or felt.
Get Lonely is a lot mellower than his previous release The Sunset Tree, which was a cathartic journey reliving his turbulent and violent past with an abusive stepfather. Darnielle sounds tired and weary on this album – older even. His lyrics aren’t biographical, but rather general and morose. Which is OK. But the thing about The Mountain Goats that has always been so interesting is hearing singer-songwriter Darnielle go through some serious shit and still come out on top.
This album is more subdued than introspective. The melodies are still pretty as ever, the lyrics biting and epic – but something is missing. You no longer get a peek into this interesting and complex man’s psyche. He touches on it with songs like "Half Dead," but there is nothing particularly moving or personal about the album.
This is a fine release, but it didn’t make me want to go back and listen to it again. Actually, it made me want to go home and listen to his 2004 opus We Shall All Be Healed. Where The Sunset Tree had Darnielle out there swinging, Get Lonely has him licking his wounds.
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