But the work the album concerns itself with is not the hard labor of chain gangs, but the hard work that goes into falling asleep. Trying to calm down despite the insistence of twelve different thoughts to be heard at the same time. The title of the first track, “Notes From a Night With No Sleep,” could describe the whole album.
“Tied on my shoes tight today/to keep my shoes just walking straight,” Brandon Decker sings on the aforementioned track. As the album progresses, we get insomniac confusion such as “I'm scared like a dog,” “Save me,” and “You can't save a wretch like me.” The speaker is trying to find the right path. It's a search we all make, and Decker does a good job of bringing it into song without falling into absurd sentimentality.
The musicianship on this release goes a long way in keeping the album away from that sentimentality. Decker's Americana tunes are so well-crafted that any worries about lyrical content go out the window. Fiddles and sleepy honky-tonk piano bolster an acoustic guitar in arrangements that are immediately comforting in their warm melancholy.
Broken Belts, Broken Bones is an album about the work of being human. And like your favorite person, it may not be perfect, but its presence will always make you feel good.
Broken Belts, Broken Bones, the new release from decker., is an album about work. Its cover bears the image of a pack mule, and the title brings to mind hours of breaking rocks in a blistering sun.
