(2021) Garrett Pierce - Eyes Wide in the Fire
Review:
San Francisco based singer-songwriter Garret Pierce returns with Eyes Wide in the Fire, a contemplative, introspective record rich in some pertinent, yet subtle, political messages. The ten tracks that make up the album flirt with grand universal themes, but Pierce’s fifteen-year song-writing career ensures they are always delivered with a subtle, thoughtful, sensitivity. Featuring Max Hart on strings, and Eric Gardner on drums, with some additional work by Timothy James Wright, the album was recorded in LA and there is a clear West Coastecho throughout the recording. ‘Only in LA’ with its country inspired guitar and lament on the materiality of popular culture, sets the album’s reflective scene. ‘Only in this place would choirs ring from all the air conditioning / Humming like cicadas or the beasts that used to roam these very streets’, sings Pierce, and it’s in the poetry of his lyrics that his talent lies. There is a deepness to the album’s themes and thoughts but they are always delivered with a soft and tender touch, quietly drawing you into the record’s passionate heart. ‘Calling to Me’ plays with a more hypnotic vibe: ‘You visited me in last night’s dream / Walked through the stream of electricity’ sings Pierce’s mellifluous voice over some trippy guitar. It’s a neat little track, a siren song to LA., and one which perfectly encapsulates the Americana tone of Pierce’s song-writing. ‘I.V.’, on the other hand, has a darker, more threatening mood. Strings and synth merge in a song that plays on themes of drug addition, regret and redemption. It opens with a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Forgive me my trespasses’, before Pierce breathlessly follows with the line, ‘I don’t remember the refrain / You forced me to repeat again’. It’s a brooding track, certainly the bleakest on the album, and suggests a sombre landscape ripe for Pierce to explore. With its early 90’s country sound we’re in more familiar folk rock territory with ‘One Look in the Mirror’. Similarly, ‘You Made Me’ opens with a 70s politicised Laurel Canyon ambience, which reveals Pierce’s inspirations. It’s probably one of the highlights of a constantly surprising, and evocative album. ‘A World on Fire’ is probably the most affecting song on the album. A song about birth, it initially sounds, at least musically, like a lullaby for a new-born, but heads into exploring the fear of bringing new life into an unstable world. ‘Outside the world is all covered in tears / but inside it is simple and warm / I want to welcome you into a world without harm’ sings Pierce. This hope is sharply concluded by the song’s final lines: ‘We’re born into this, we’re all clenching our fists / screaming why’d you pull me from the warmth/ Weeks till the cold room, weeks to welcome you / Into a….’ Cutting the song off tersely leaves the listener with a fear of uncertainly and vulnerability, a sharp juxtaposition with the warm hope of the song’s initial wish. Pierce’s fragile, tentative voice may not be to everyone’s taste, and the heavy thread of introspection which runs through the album requires a little climatising, but there is no denying the sharp quality of his song-writing. Ultimately, Eyes Wide in the Fire is a narrative about the city; its anonymous, urban landscape. In his roaming of its streets, Pierce touches on themes of corruption, gender, love, loneliness, and fear: deep pools to dive into for a surprisingly chilled album. There are heavy words here, but, as always, soothingly delivered with Pierce’s inviting poetry and chilled guitar.
Tracklist:
01 - Only in L.A.
02 - Calling to Me
03 - You Made Me
04 - Harmony Insane
05 - A World On Fire
06 - Tea with Demons
07 - Outrun
08 - Vampire for a Night
09 - One Look in the Mirror
10 - I.V.
Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits