By Joshua Wallace
Brandy Clark has returned with the follow up to her 2016 release Big Day In A Small Town. This album is titled Your Life Is A Record and thematically it’s about endings and beginnings. Overall, it’s a slower record than her previous album with more somber moments although there are some upbeat breakup songs on this record as well. Brandy Clark is a great songwriter and her ability to tell stories shines through on this one. Here are a few of my favorites.
The album kicks off with “I’ll Be The Sad Song”. This is kind of the title track in that it’s about if a life is a record, the break-ups and sad times brought by the narrator provide the sad songs. It’s a great tune that really sets the vibe for this record. The album does have some more upbeat numbers throughout, though still not upbeat lyrically. “Long Walk” is probably my favorite song here and it’s a great lyrical turn with “take a long walk / off a real short pier / take a cinder block with you as a souvenir”. It’s a great infectious revenge / break-up song that gets stuck in your head easily.
Another favorite is a great story song in “Pawn Shop”. It’s a song about a wedding ring and how it ended up in a pawn shop. It’s a great tune centered around the emotions that go along with it all. On a similar note is “Bad Car” and it plays into the sentiments of things we keep around because they’re familiar even if we know they’re long past their prime and in need of an update. Finally, “Can We Be Strangers” is another break up song acknowledging that a bad relationship is probably best if the two parties never even met. It goes through all of the emotions of a bad relationship turning worse until you just don’t want to know a person anymore. You don’t even want to miss them.
This record further cements Brandy Clark as an amazing story telling songwriter. She does what she sets out to do with every song. Whether it’s telling a story, evoking an emotion or taking you to another time and place, she is a master songwriter. If you have been a fan of 12 Stories, Big Day In A Small Town or anything else she has done, you’ll be a fan of this. Be sure to check out her website for tour dates and this record is out everywhere as of Friday, March 06th, 2020.
Favorite Tracks : I’ll Be The Sad Song, Long Walk, Pawn Shop, Bad Car, Who Broke Whose Heart, Can We Be Strangers
Brandy Clark – Your Life Is A Record (2020)
- I”ll Be The Sad Song
- Long Walk
- Love Is A Fire
- Pawn Shop
- Who You Thought I Was
- Apologies
- Bigger Boat (Feat. Randy Newman)
- Bad Car
- Who Broke Whose Heart
- Can We Be Strangers
- The Past Is The Past
