Tom McRae - The Alphabet of Hurricanes
Review by Jack Foley
SINGER-songwriter Tom McRae wrote his latest album, The Alphabet of Hurricanes, over a two-year period during which he toured extensively and – by his own admission – lost himself a little bit.
“After a while I just ran out of steam, “ he says. “I wound up in New York City and stared writing songs, trying to make sense of the last few years.
“Somehow, I had to reconcile the self-destructive side of my nature and the desire to constantly smash things up with the need to feel settled in order to have a better grasp of songwriting and recording.”
He then bought a banjo, ukulele, mandolin, drums, violin, an old piano and “other junk from ebay” and began fleshing out the songs.
The result is The Alphabet of Hurricanes – a name inspired by a fact that will never make its way onto the album.
Each year, hurricanes are named alphabetically and last year the world went through the alphabet twice, which had never happened before.
“There’s a line in that song [which didn’t make the final cut] which states ‘an alphabet of hurricanes can’t blow this drifter home’. It sums up how I felt… the turbulence in my life seemed stuck on repeat.”
For such a turbulent period, however, the songs are remarkably accomplished.
The sense of uncertainty hinted at in McRae’s PR is evident lyrically, but the composition of the songs themselves is often breathtakingly brilliant.
Take album highlight Please, for instance, which finds McRae’s vocals at their most aching and vulnerable, pleading for clarity, yet bolstered by some absolutely rousing percussion and, eventually, a brilliant backing choir. It’s hands down the best song on the album and you don’t really want it to finish.
That said, American Spirit, the track that precedes it, is just as effective… a bluesy, borderline melancholic offering that feels vaguely Tom Petty-ish. It’s a slow burner that builds towards a memorable chorus.
Me & Stetson, on the other hand, drops a zinging tambourine back-beat and some handclaps to create an anthemic road trip kind of song that’s pretty invigorating.
And the mandolin-based Best Winter is a real charmer, combining licks of that instrument with some similarly endearing piano chords, and some hopeful, reflective lyrics.
The lovelorn Still Love You, meanwhile, gets the LP off to a great start, while a banjo combines with a flamenco influence on Won’t Lie, another of those layered songs that McRae excels in – an honest exploration of a relationship built on deception that has reached a pivotal point.
Needless to say, The Alphabet of Hurricanes is not the sort of album that you should allow to pass you by. It’s a work of art.
Download picks: Still Love You, Won’t Lie, Summer of John Wayne, American Spirit, Please, Me & Stetson, Best Winter
Track listing: