Heal

Description

From the first bars of Heal, the exhilarating melodic stomp of Goshen 97 puts you right into Tim Showalters fervent teenage mindset. We find him in his familys basement den in Goshen, IN, feeling alienated but even at 15 years old believing in the alchemy and power of music to heal your troubles. The record is called Heal but its not a soft, gentle healing, its like scream therapy, a command, because I ripped out my subconscious, looked through it, and saw the worst parts. And thats how I got better. Heal embodies that feeling of catharsis and rebirth, desperation and euphoria, confusion and clarity. It is deeply personal and unwittingly anthemic.

Showalter was on tour, walking home on a mild autumn night in Malmo, Sweden, when he first felt the weight of the personal crisis that would ignite him to write Heal. It was a culmination of pressure, Showalter recalls. My marriage was suffering, Id released a record I was disappointed in, I didnt like how I looked or acted so Id gone on tour, I was gone about two years! I didnt take time to think about failure, but I knew I was going deeper and deeperI was thinking, I have this life, but its not my life, I havent done it right When Showalter returned, he wrote 30 songs in three weeks, a process that proved difficult but cathartic and at times invigorating. Previous Strand Of Oaks records were more skeletal, raw examples of folk-rooted Americana with occasional rock and electronic currents that have now come to the fore.

Heal is a bold new beginning, with a thrilling full-tilt sound that draws on Showalters love of 70s, 80s and 90s rock and pop, with the singer and guitarist playing the intense valedictory confessor.

Crucial to Heals sound was the man who Showalter chose to mix the record, the stellar alt-rock icon John Congleton. Showalter also re-connected with Ben Vehorn, synth expert and studio engineer extraordinaire and drummer Steve Clements, who provides Heals thunderous, sinewy drive. Songs such as Shut In, Plymouth and Woke Up To The Light have a classic construction and mood, recalling 70s powerpop / ballads and the yearning ache of Big Stars late, great Chris Bell.

Many of the songs on Heal reveal an electronic undercarriage and towering drums that push the albums wired dynamic to its stretching point, especially on For Me, which expertly bridges the albums twin decades of influences. If Goshen 97 recalls the molten energy of Dinosaur Jr, thats because it actually is J Mascis on lead guitar. Despite the initials, the albums smouldering 7-minute epic JM is not a Mascis tribute but one to the late Jason Molina, about having his music as comfort no matter how bad things get.