Chris King – Animal

If you want to find your passion, surrender to your heartbreak. Your heartbreak points toward a truer north… ~Umair Haque

In the linear notes of “Animal”, Chris writes “This album is about as true to myself as I’ve ever made” and while I think that’s true of most people making records.. I think it’s especially true here. Chris shows that, on this record, he’s willing to share some of both the happy and sad truths that life throws us… and exposing your heart like that takes bravery in a world where popular music just wants you to feel good.

Also in the linear notes, Chris gives a nod to his future wife, his lawyer (and staying out of jail), friends, family and music lovers. He’s obviously lived a lot of life over the last few years and this record is first public showing that his writing is stronger than ever, his voice has matured and that musically this record stands tall as one of the best things coming out of Texas.

From the first song, you’ll know immediately this is no “1983”… his first LP record which is decidedly country. You’ll think “Is this the same Chris King?” And trust me.. it is. The songs on this record may be a bit more electric and Americana, but the writing and production are just as sharp as they’ve always been. He explores more of the dark side of all of us in this record.. the times where things might not have gone the way we wanted, but in the end we turned out OK… we survived.

The record takes you through fast songs and slow songs.. some that have huge drums & guitars and some that are most stripped down & traditional. I tend to like records that have a common vibe throughout the entire thing and at first listen I couldn’t find it because of the differences in how the songs are put together. But.. it turns out that I found the common theme is just that.. that there is rarely one way to look at anything. Clever.

Now I’m racing in the open With the coastline at my back. I’m calling all my friends up Just to see how much I have.

Those opening lines to “Animal”, do great justice to prepare you for what you’re going to hear from this record. It gives me this frantic feeling of heartbreak (a girl, a boy, a lost job, a fight, a death…) and desperately needing to find my friends that are going to get me through.

My time with this record has shown that “Animal” is one of those friends that’s going to help me through… It’s going to get me to the other side because it’s singing about all the things that I feel and can’t put into words.

I think that’s the best compliment I can give a record.

_______________________________________________

So the short version: I really fucking love this record. It’s not the same rehashed bullshit… it’s truth, it’s art and it’s progression. I think you’ll love it too and you can take a listen to a few tracks below and maybe even buy one for yourself. Thanks for listening to my thoughts… [soundcloud params=”show_artwork=false&show_comments=false”]https://soundcloud.com/christopherck/01-animal[/soundcloud] [soundcloud params=”show_artwork=false&show_comments=false”]https://soundcloud.com/christopherck/04-almost-gone[/soundcloud][soundcloud params=”show_artwork=false&show_comments=false”]https://soundcloud.com/christopherck/07-take-it-down[/soundcloud]