Review Summary: "I wanna take the leap inside your mind."
Once in awhile there comes along an album that baffles the senses, whether good or bad, to the point where you have to stop and ask yourself: how do I feel about this? You ponder each song, you nitpick them individually (often times too much so), you revisit, you take it in as a whole. A constant back-and-forth of emotions that frustrates and fascinates in equal measure. Are you too enamored by an artist to admit that you may not like their efforts as fully as you had originally hoped? Therein lies the back-and-forth, frustration and fascination-type feeling that I experienced while listening to Clint Lowery's God Bless the Renegades.
Lowery has always been a man whom I hold in extremely high regard, his writing-style is subtle and majestic; as previously displayed in his side-project, Hello Demons... Meet Skeletons, with exemplary tracks such as "Caved In" and "Expectations". So what could possibly be the frustration with this solo project? At times throughout this record, it seems as if subtlety is thrown clear out the window in favor of straight-up bluntness. Take for instance the closing cut, "Do We Fear God", which immediately suggests a Christian rock aesthetic right from the onset, and (surprise, surprise) very much lives up to that notion. The chorus is repetitive, especially by the end, with "do we fear God" being repeated over-and-over again to the point of near-exhaustion. There is a shred of subtlety, especially in lines like "would you ask my name if my weather fades, it's less than beautiful, in a shallow place, we become the slaves on a selfish pedestal", but thought-provoking and inspired lyrics like these are slim-to-nil during the course of this album closer.
Admittedly, the biggest problem with this album is this closing song. It's strangely uplifting, yet the instrumentals feel too intrusive and the song itself begs to be given an acoustic rendition. "God Bless the Renegades", "She's Free" and lead-single "Kings" are the rousing standouts among this 10-track collection; with the latter going as far as to inspire me to make a music video set to the Tom Hardy/Marvel Comics vehicle Venom (to which I'll link below). "She's Free" is, by a wide-margin, the best song on the album. Being written about his daughter, the song benefits from a punchy drum-section during the chorus and a high-level of emotional resonance within its lyrics. This penultimate track goes from the worries of fatherhood ("Please God tell me that she's not like her father") to the cathartic realization that "I'll be around to stop the world" no matter where you go in life. A beautiful, mesmerizing song which easily ranks among the finest that Clint Lowery has ever offered.
"Kings" delves into substance abuse and sobriety in equal (and wholly satisfying) measure. Lyrically speaking, it is top-tier material from Lowery (the chorus alone is, arguably, the greatest one he's written yet) and the instrumentals back-up a tremendous vocal performance from Lowery in a fiery, explosive-fashion. Strange that "Kings" was not selected to be the album opener, as the title-track instead takes that honor. Where "Kings" had a slower lead-in before the blast of instrumentation comes swarming in, "God Bless the Renegades" immediately ignites and almost feels like a last-minute decision in terms of the placement. Though it is a great song in of itself, the choice to have it open the album is an eyebrow-raising one as it suffers from a case of "too much too fast".
Other noteworthy tracks include "What's the Matter" and "Allowed to Run" (the longest on the record, clocking-in at just under five minutes). "What's the Matter" features the most interesting guitar-work, closing on this rhythm that echoes and expands before completely dissipating. Fairly neat stuff. "Allowed to Run" could very well be the most inspiring of the bunch, as the man himself says in the Editors' Notes section of his Apple Music page for this album: "This is telling people, especially young people, that if they have a bad situation they’re in—it can be mental, it can be depression, it can be a lot of things—that they’re allowed to step back and not be imprisoned by whatever the trauma is. They have a choice to make." A touching message from a spirited man. Whatever flaws this album may feature, Clint Lowery is an artist worth cherishing and, if the heart and soul put into this record is any sign, the future is looking brighter with him in it.
