SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOE NOLAN – LUV IN THE NEW WORLD

JOE NOLAN
LUV IN THE NEW WORLD
INDEPENDENT

A skilled artist can create a great song by blending skilled musicianship with endearing melodies and setting catchy words to music. On the other hand, the ability to create lyrics which, when juxtaposed with the perfect instrumentation, create heart-moving pieces that leave the listener changed forever, is much rarer. Lyrics are the gift granted to listeners who take the time to listen. The ability to write lyrics that turn one’s soul upside down, forcing the listener to feel emotions that are at once otherly and profound, is a true gift. That is the case with Joe Nolan. His music cannot be separated from its lyrics. Nolan is clearly an old soul, one who has lived a hundred lives in his young life, and as a result his lyrics are gifted with a wisdom and depth that are rarely seen.

Luv in the New World, Nolan’s ninth album, was recorded live off the floor in an LA studio, along with drummer Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) and bass player Sebastian Steinberg (Lucinda Williams, Phoebe Bridgers). Produced by Grammy Award-winner Tyler Chester, it is a collection of 10 songs that will bring a smile to your face, tears to your eyes, and a whole gamut of feels in between. He is gentle and unassuming, so you will not see it coming. There is no flash here, just soothing vocal harmonies backed by gentle acoustic guitar melodies and understated drums, and the occasional melancholic harmonica riff. The musical structures that so eloquently frame Nolan’s vocals are gentle at times, gut-wrenching at others, and when you least expect it, a lethal combination of both.

Luv in the New World kicks off with the melancholic “Wake up Sleepy Anna,” where the tone drifts in and out from a sense of hollowness to one of hope. It is both sad and soothing at the same time. “Wake up little Anna/The World needs your love today.” Life is hard and we all need that message at times. “Blood on the Pages” is an introspective piece about Nolan’s life on the road, which has pretty much been most of his adult life. His collective works he refers to as his “caravan diaries”, about his time touring in his 2003 Dodge Caravan he calls “Rocco,” as he follows his heart, performing over 150 shows a year in North America and Europe, going “wherever the muse takes me.” “I wear my heart out on my sleeve/And someday you’re gonna take it,” he laments here. You can be certain it has been done many times before.

Hailing from Sturgeon County, AB, Joe Nolan has garnered the attention of the West Coast Music Industry, having been nominated a for a number of awards over the years including West Coast Music Awards (WCMA) and Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA). It is time for the rest of Canada to take notice, and Luv in the New World should be the album to achieve that. In “Half a Tear, Half a Grin,” Nolan states “If I could leave you just one thing/‘Be a half a tear and half a grin.” On Luv in the New World, he does that in multiples. Just be sure to listen.

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