February 21 - Full Flower

Folks, I don't want to freak you out, but I just heard an electric guitar. And multi-instrumentation. We're onto a new album here with new production standards. We are a long way from the rumble grumble of John's tape recorder and a lot closer to, well, indie music of 1995.

Unfortunately something else that feels a long way away in this song is John's vocals. The guitar is so loud and forward that it took a couple of listens to have the vocals feel like anything but pleasant choral noise.

This is, per John, intentional., It's a blunt and personal song about addiction, as emphasised by the lines "and I would give anything in the world up for you / but I will not stop". John using the loud part to slip in the quiet part is very much a Mountain Goats tactic, and one that's employed here with skill and some degree of frankness.