Review Summary: No Distance Left to Run
It's rare in life that we're aware that we're doing something for the final time, after all it's usually a rather depressing notion, one that serves as a reminder of our mortality and finite time reserves. Sitting here today it seems more than likely I've played my last 11 a side football match, but at the time I was ignorant of the significance; if I'd been privy to that knowledge would it have informed how I approached the game? Would I have gone so gently into that good night? In reality this is the way it usually goes down; it's only after the event that it dawns on us that time has moved on, something has already been consigned to history only we barely noticed. The same is often true of bands; it's quite rare that artists embark on recording an album with the foreknowledge it'll be their last. Of course 2016 has already seen the release of one very high profile exception; while this release from Richmond Fontaine can hardly lay claim to the same sort of cultural significance or emotional impact as 'Blackstar', it's always intriguing when a long serving act choose to record their own farewell note.
Over their 22 year life Richmond Fontaine successfully carved out a perfect niche territory for themselves, clocking up double figures of studio albums yet always sticking to the same winning format of low key tumble-weed strewn americana and unflinching plain spoken storytelling. Criticising the band for simply rerecording the same album over and over again would be missing their base appeal; there were so few other artists hitting this particular sweet spot that after a two or three year break their audience would be craving a fresh fix. In the world of Richmond Fontaine there was simply no need for experimentation beyond the occasional musical tweak or slightly altered thematic focus. The decision to bring the curtain down on their career is understandable, there's no doubting this band have left behind a solid legacy, but this news will still hold some disappointment for their fanbase; this band are that rarest of breeds, the loyal workhorse you'd welcome covering the same old patch of dirt forever.
That notion has now been put firmly to bed; all things must end, for lo even the Rolling Stones will one day hang up their guitars. For those who've followed the band's career over the years at least there will be a certain novelty in knowing this album isn't just another link in the chain. While the band's songs have always carried an unmistakable air of weariness here the mood feels all the more resigned for knowing this is a world we're visiting for the last time. More than ever Vlautin's lyrics here deal in memories, often distant ones; the conclusion you draw is that the characters who populate these songs have long since gone past the point of being able to enact any real change in their lives. As the title of the album suggests, you can't go back and try again, that place you knew no longer exists outside of your head.
The album's strongest moments all carry this feeling; 'A Night in the City' documents a middle-aged man's grim realisation that he can't even escape his dull life for one night as his attempted act of rebellious debauchery only leaves him feeling spent and lonely; the lyrics for the achingly tender 'I Can't Black it Out if I Wake Up and Remember' are simply a list of tragic recollections about a street the narrator considers 'bad luck'; while 'I Got off the Bus' finds a down and out trying to convince a policeman to leave him be, arguing he's due a break as he was born in the neighbourhood. As you'd expect of the author of four novels Vlautin can sketch out characters and the workings of their minds with unrivalled economy. He also has a winning knack of making sure each song has at least a couple of lines that hit you like a brick in the pit of your stomach.
Perhaps unsurprisingly there's a prolonged subdued feel to the musical backing here, and while it's in keeping with the songs at hand it does mean that this album ends up as possibly the least diverse release by a band already famous for their lack of variety. If Richmond Fontaine were on a mission to win new friends this might have been an issue but considering the circumstances it's no concern at all. 'You can't go back' is a victory lap in front of the fans...and not every band gets the opportunity to perform one of those.
