As you may have noticed, today I’m launching a new feature; album reviews. All album reviews are, from now on, titled Turn it up, turn it up … and will include album reviews of singers/bands that I find interesting, starting with Brian Fallon’s Local Honey, which was released on March 27, 2020.
Fallon was supposed to be well into a tour in support of his newly released album Local Honey by now, but the coronavirus pandemic halted the run after he and his band the Howling Weather had played only one single show. I had tickets for the shows in Gothenburg (26.04) and in Cologne (01.05), which now have been rescheduled for February 2021. I’ve listened closely to the new album and these are my thoughts:
Local Honey is an only eight tracks long, low-key Americana styled album. It’s quite different from Fallon’s two previous solo albums: Painkillers (2016) and Sleepwalkers (2018), which are more soul-rock. The songs on Local Honey reflect on everyday life; days gone by, love lost, troubled lives and broken habits.
The album was announced already on December 10 with the release of the first single You Have Stolen My Heart, a tender ballad on love.
“You Have Stolen My Heart is my most direct attempt at a love song,” Fallon said in a press statement. “I wanted a song that wasn’t aware of what it was or wasn’t, it was just true. The rhythm has an almost calypso feel inside of an Americana song.”
“The whole time it wanted to be almost a lullaby, a note to my wife. I had to learn to let it be what it wanted to be, in the end I think I did”
21 Days was the second single released on January 17. On the surface the song is about a breakup but actually about Fallon’s own attempt to stop smoking. I like the way parallels are drawn between beating addictions and saying goodbye after a break-up. 21 days is, supposedly, the period of time before the craving ebbs when kicking a habit.
When You’re Ready opens the album. It’s a lovely piece of loving advice on life and love for his young daughter, which encapsulates the hopes and fears of all fathers.
Vincent is a song written from the perspective of a woman (Jolene) who murders her abusive boyfriend.
Local Honey is a “comfortable” album that needed a couple of listenings for me to fully appreciate. What it lacks in energy it makes up for with emotion and warmth. It is carried along by the irresistible charm of Fallon’s characteristic vocals and I can’t wait to see the live show in …. 🤔? Oh yeah, February 2021 😳.
Track Listing
When You’re Ready
21 Days
Vincent
I Don’t Mind (If I’m With You)
Lonely for You Only
Horses
Hard Feelings
You Have Stolen My Heart
Recommended Tracks: Vincent and You Have Stolen My Heart
Stray Bullet 
I loved!!!! 👍
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