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75. The Lateness of Dancers - Hiss Golden Messenger (2014)

Folk

“The Lateness of Dancers” finds Hiss Golden Messenger’s lone permanent member, MC Taylor channeling a subdued, Tom Petty-flavored vocal quality, often nearly whispering smoke-scratched lines that are best ingested with a glass of bourbon after a hard day’s work. It’s an album of quiet confidence, built around humble affirmations crafted in commiseration with blue-collar workers in fly-over states.

It’s intimate, at times melancholy, with occasional tinges of Sunday service peeking through poetry that hits much closer to home than a hymnal ever could. Songs end and fade not into silence or cheesy radio static, but into the soothing sounds of country summer crickets singing their own songs through open screen doors. “I’m a Raven” injects some Southern energy, with Taylor lyrically donning an all-black get-up and embracing the outlaw life. “Southern Grammar” is a plea for simplicity in life amidst the inevitability of difficult decisions. The album rises with effortless grace, filling big skies and hitching a ride to wherever on the breeze.

*image; cover art for the album The Lateness of Dancers by the artist Hiss Golden Messenger