If you’re still sleeping on Gabe Lee, it’s time to wake up.
His debut album Farmland is a phenomenal record and his newly-released follow up, Honky Tonk Hell, is also a must-listen.
But last week, after the death of one of his heroes, the great John Prine, Gabe found himself struggling to make sense of world that so clearly seems broken right now.
With a global pandemic forcing many into seasons of heartache, loneliness, and fear, not to mention financial instability, Gabe did what any true artist would do in the midst of this confusion and uncertainty… he wrote a song about it.
“Talk to You” is about the connection between people, places, communities, and lack thereof. Music is one of the – if not most – powerful communicators spanning time and distance, race and origin, and despite the temporary shutdown of virtually every live venue across the globe, songs are still being sung, shared, and celebrated in a whole new era of online concerts, home videos, and even facetime songwriting sessions. The fact remains however that a shadow blankets our world.
Facing unemployment myself I have spent as many days reflecting on the gravity of our situation, lucky enough to have resources to weather the storm, but also grappling with the same uncertainty we all now must face together. The recording of “Talk to You” is a whisper of a track stylistically reminiscent of the same hymns or ‘prayer-songs’ I grew up with in church; short and sweet, but rich and darkly ironic as the narrator’s isolation begins to overcome his or her faith.
Probably like most songwriters in quarantine, I have been glued to the guitar, trying to put emotions into words for the state we’re in. This particular song I think captures that delicate balance between hope and hopelessness folks experience not only now, but in any times of trouble. In so many words this hymn for the homebound is an address to the outside world, from living rooms to lonely streets – that if nothing else…dare to hope!”
A powerful message indeed, and one we all desperately need to hear right now.
