Music Review #1- Traveling Mercies by Emily Scott Robinson

Hello! Welcome to the very first album review I’ll be doing on this blog! I’m planning to do at least one review of a track or album here every Tuesday, so make sure you subscribe if you like this one, so you don’t ever miss out! I wanted to start with an album that I know well, as I want my reviews to be fairly thorough, and I want to have listened to whatever it is several times, so I can make a fair judgement. Therefore I’m starting with a favorite album of mine, Traveling Mercies by Emily Scott Robinson.

On February 22, 2019, Emily Scott Robinson blessed the world with an album absolutely packed full of wanderlust. Featuring a gorgeous, illustrated cover, it immediately pulls you into a western desert night, and only pulls you further west with the lead track; “Westward Bound”, a wonder-filled song featuring a punchy string backing track, and describing the sights of a rural American west on a road-trip. Describing rural diners, UFO museums, and little white churches.

The songs on this album are rich with pure lyrical genius being used to describe the small details in such an elegant, artistic, yet simple, and relatable way. She manages to nail feelings that certain settings have, to the point where every time she mentions a place, you can visualize it to a T in your head. She also has a talent for putting specific feelings into words as good or better than any artist I’ve ever heard. She captures mundanity and the general drag of everyday life of a struggling person in a small town on songs like “Ghost in Every Town”, and “Pie Song”.

Robinson also has some very real, very serious songs on this album as well. “The Dress” describes the mental struggle a woman is facing after a sexual assault. She ponders over what happened and if there was anything she could’ve done different to prevent it, while also detailing the affects it’s had, making her bolt the door and sleep with the lights on. “Run” is written in a similar vein. This track is from the perspective of a woman who expected a dream when she got married, and it quickly devolved into a physically and mentally abusive relationship that crescendos when she hears her husband drunkenly arm a gun, leading her to run away. Robinson covers these topics tastefully and brings awareness to these issues, which are not talked about nearly enough in country music.

ESR’s story telling is also a very rich part of her skillset, really showcased in all it’s glory in two of my favorite tracks on the album, “Shoshone Rose” and “Delta Line”. “Shoshone Rose” I think gets the title of my official favorite though. I’m a sucker for interesting, unique words working in a song, and Shoshone is one of those for sure. I also love Native American stories, as I have lots of Cherokee in my lineage, and find Native history fascinating. While this song is fictional, it isn’t totally out of the question that something like it could happen. It tells the story of a young Shoshone woman passing herself off as white so she can infiltrate an army camp and gain enough trust to finally strike and kill the general at night. Backed by a gorgeous western instrumental Marty Robbins would be proud of, the story has a surprisingly catchy chorus, and Robinson’s delivery of every line is perfect for each line.

“White Hot Country Mess” and “Borrowed Rooms and Old Wood Floors” feature the opposing moods of being a small traveling artist, making enough to get by. “Overalls” was featured on my list of country songs guaranteed to make you cry, as it covers how an old country man wants you to celebrate his life and not mourn when he passes. “Traveling Mercies” is the perfect cap to end this album on, with its wide open feel and a farewell message, backed by fiddle and mandolin.

This album offers some of the best lyricism you’ll ever hear, all supported by beautiful string-heavy instrumentals, that allow Robinson’s delicate, songbird-like voice to breathe. I also can’t really imagine any album being better for a road-trip. Obviously since I started out by reviewing one of my favorite albums of the last few years it will be getting a high rating.

I give this album a solid 9.5/10, I absolutely cannot stress enough how much you need to go give this album a listen yourself.

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So that’s it, review number one is in the books. I’m not SUPER proud of it, there are things that need to improved for sure, but it will only get better with practice, so tune in every Tuesday for some kind of country music review, and be sure to tell me if there’s something specific you’d like me to review!