Hearing the heart and soul of John Moreland
It sounds banal, but every once in awhile you hear a song that stops you in your tracks. When it starts, you can’t help but cease operations and stand still, focusing on the music, on the lyrics, on the entire listening experience.
Many of us know what it means to be moved by music, and I can’t remember the last time I was moved as much as when I first heard a track from Tulsa, Oklahoma’s John Moreland.
A couple of years ago, I had the distinct privilege of sharing the world premiere of Moreland’s “Heart’s Too Heavy,” the first track released from his third solo album, High on Tulsa Heat. In my write-up, I called Moreland’s lyrics “frighteningly incisive,” and noted how his voice sounded like it belonged to a man who has “lived 100 lifetimes.”
That was my first experience with John Moreland, but I knew the second “Heart’s Too Heavy” started that I would be learning as much as I could about him. Once High on Tulsa Heat came out, a friend and former colleague described Moreland like this: “It’s a cliché to suggest that country music should be imbued with heartbreak, but Moreland’s husky voice conveys heartache and hope — life — with such conviction and depth that he establishes his absolute sincerity from note one.”
Since that album, I’ve gone back and consumed his earlier solo material, 2011’s Earthbound Blues and 2013’s In the Throes. I’ve gone further back to his more rock and roll side from the Dust Bowl Souls and the Black Gold Band. I’m a sucker for an honest songwriter, and for the last decade—along with a handful of others—Moreland has turned into one of the greatest, and unfortunately, most overlooked.
It may be time for Moreland to step out from the shadows, though, at least as far as music critics and potential new fans are concerned. A year ago, instead of promoting High on Tulsa Heat by performing a new track from the disc, Moreland sat on the dark stage of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and played the agony-filled “Break My Heart Sweetly” from In the Throes. The theater erupted in applause and cheers, no doubt from people who had never heard of Moreland before and had no idea what to expect when they saw him sitting on stage.
Now, he’s preparing to release his fourth LP, Big Bad Luv, on May 5 via 4AD. Ahead of that date, Moreland and 4AD have shared his lead single, “It Don’t Suit Me (Like Before),” a track that feels lighthearted (for Moreland) while still being deeply rooted in his honest and reflective voice.
Well I haven’t got all night, go on and raise a toast. We’re only one time aiming for the sun. Thought we’d be grinding all our gears ‘til we’re giving up the ghost, and grieving from the ties that we’d undone. I’m still staring at the skylight, at the stars, with all these heavy anchors on my heart. But they don’t suit me, babe, like before. They don’t suit me like they did before. Always waving flags and waging war, it don’t suit me like before.
When Big Bad Luv was announced, Moreland recognized many might want to paint it as a happier record compared to his previous work, but he’s quick to push back.
“I don’t think I’m writing songs that are that much different,” he says. “It’s always been a positive thing at heart, even if a song isn’t sunshine and rainbows. At the very least my songs have been a way to exorcise negative feelings so that I can move on. And hopefully they provide that same experience to listeners. So that’s what I’m still doing. I think it’s a positive thing. I think this record, there’s definitely a change in attitude, but it’s the same point of view.”
And that’s the thing about Moreland. Whether he’s writing gritty, cow-punk rock and roll with the Black Gold Band or he’s sitting on national television with his heart and soul wide open for the whole world to see and hear, he’s always coming at life from that same point of view.
A point of view that’s honest, vulnerable, and always frighteningly incisive.
