2022 Album of the Year
// KURT VILE // (watch my moves)// album review//
Since hearing (Watch My Moves) by Kurt Vile in the late spring of last year it has become my go to record even surpassing great albums of 2022 such as Warmduscher ‘At The Hotspot‘, Preoccupations ‘Arrangements’ and Dubwar ‘Westgate Under Fire’. I am as familiar with this album already as I am with classic albums released decades ago that have become the score of my life.
After Fleet Foxes released ‘Shore’ in late 2020 I couldn’t quite envisage a record of equal beauty and of a similar painful optimism following so soon after. Yet, I am bewildered by the pure honesty and cerebral soul oozing from Kurt Vile’s latest record. (Watch my Moves) was released on Matador records on April 14th 2022, the day he discovered new realms of possibility.
Over the last few years Kurt Vile’s quality of output has more or less followed the upward curve of his growing popularity since Crack magazine amongst others placed ‘Walking on a Pretty Day’ as their album of the year in 2013 – steady. It is remarkable and clear that the clarity of atmosphere in his songwriting and formation has emerged progressively since his excellent break through album ‘Smoke Ring for My Halo’ in 2011. That opaque and smokey backdrop in his tight, cautious mysticality has now dissipated to reveal the true musical and emotional talents of the man.
The dreamy journey begins in a gracious and life affirming way and that is a defining feature of the whole album. By his own admission in the opening track Goin On A Plane Today Vile celebrates how fortunate he has become “Listening to ‘heart of gold’ Gonna open up for Neil Young, man life sure can be fun”. One cannot ignore the references periodically scattered around the record to the new found sense of freedom that all of us feel and the affect forced isolation has had on our mental states, like so many other albums released since the beginning of the Covid Pandemic. Here the novelty of something as everyday as going on a plane seems a treat.
Another obvious theme littering (Watch My Moves) is Kurt Vile’s nostalgic longing to revert to the simpler days of his childhood. His lyrics and narrated monologue display a pure innocence without any hint of being cutesy or cliched, instead they reveal his vulnerabilities and sometimes infantile playfulness, their charming innocence are nothing but endearing. He reveals that his “Manhood compromised – Watch me shrinking back into a little kid”. Following this there will be references to Lemonade, Pinball machines, a Stuffed Leopard (the final song on the album), Fantasies of flying, skateboards and teapots singing.
Perhaps the album sleeve cover tells us all that we need to be able to decipher the inspiration for the making of this record. He is sat lovingly clutching his two daughters sat either side of him. For all of the social and mental trauma the social animal has suffered in the last two years, it cannot be denied that some of us have slowed down and concentrated on what is really important in life. A loving family! and Kurt Vile certainly gives the impression of a doting father and family man.
The first single from the album – Flyin (Like a Fast Train) realises acid flashbacks and burn out exhaustion but in the lyric – “cooped up creature of discomfort can’t touch a thing” – it is as if he would go back to the pre-pandemic days in an instant. Any sense of pained struggle is camouflaged however by the ever present beauty of the dimensions Vile engineers through his horizontal song structures, lucid guitars and mastery of the synthesizer. We are all safe in his hands no matter what is going on outside.
The dream scape atmosphere is enhanced by Palace of OKV in Reverse as Vile’s over produced narration glides along the heavily synthesised, backwards recording. Something bands such as White denim have done with great success. That commentary of feelings both physical and mental, musical techniques and cerebral imperfection are best demonstrated in the spell binding Like Exploding Stones. Kurt Vile practically hands us his present vulnerable psyche on a plate as he jumps straight in to our trusting arms. He inspires us by freely laying all of his self doubts on the line yet he clearly is being too hard on himself as his mastery of syllable manipulation contradicts the line “Dreamin’ of a time when everything rhymed -And i was cool, calm and collected”. This record will be his magnum opus in when Kurt Vile came of age and linked all of his copious talents in an alliterated, soaring, heart felt encyclopedia of zen poetry. Chill out with the rest of us Kurt, it rhymes.
One can’t help but submit to his infectious and innocent childlike qualities. To keep this article at a relatively readable size I will refrain from going into every line of each track but be assured I could quite easily and with glee and pleasure. Like Exploding Stones is an ultimately positive thrust despite the pains and doubts circulating in his head – “But I’m just kidding and I’m just playin’ – And this is the way I make my living – Everyday, in my mind and in real life”. That ability to step back and be grateful for what we have is arguably a human trait that may have lacked before the perspective that a global pandemic gave us, especially in our (in parts) privileged Western lives.
The heavenly Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone) repeats a xylaphone and a heart jerking subtle riff as he reinforces how he had been lost and of his battle with his own mental well-being. Hey Like A Child is a landmark in Kurt Vile’s career. Along with Over Everything that he recorded with Courtney Barnett in their critically acclaimed album Lotta Sea Lice, this track is undoubtably his greatest to date. Keeping to the theme, the song is written from a childlike perspective and the words and imagery are of a primitive and innocent viewpoint but the power comes from his rhythmical vocal and control of words and syllables as they dance and play around the delicious acoustic backdrop. This is Americana music at its very best and draws influences from Neil Young and Hank Williams (the latter to whom he pays homage to in a later track on the album – the snail paced folk lament of Cool Water). He again acknowledges his constant battle with, but his ultimate management and acceptance of; his psychological challenges and emotional torment “In the mornin’ time the glorious spring – Feel I got a handle on everything”. Surely every listener could relate to the thoughts and issues Vile illustrates so purely and candidly?
We enjoy a pair of short but atmospherically enhancing instrumentals in fine After The Goldrush style (Granted Cripple Creek Ferry & Till The Morning Comes have a vocal but they attribute similar functions as links to the overall concept and feeling). Even Jesus can’t help mankind in Jesus On A Wire. Our saviour’s mental breakdown will be cushioned by Kurt himself, apparently. It is a melody of comedic but empathetic realisation.
Kurt Vile revisits a younger Kurt in Fo Sho although not Kurt as a child. This is the distorted guitar wizard from his early records – oozing attitude and pomp that no other track on the album comes close to. Chazzy Don’t Mind mirrors the fluid reminiscence of Cool Water. Both of which demonstrate the vocal peak that Vile has reached now following his vast experimentation throughout his career. Although not a natural vocalist, his sincerity and feeling ignite his Nashville-esque folk passion, comfortably visiting scales that perhaps before he wasn’t capable of.
To rival Hey like A Child arguably Say The Word is a confirmation of how far Kurt Vile has come in such a short space of time. A driving drum beat and an ascending and descending acoustic repetition is met by a translucent layer of synth allowing Kurt Vile to delight us with some of his best recorded vocals and schizophrenic like ramblings in an awe inspiring song. After he announces -“Go” His guitar explodes in unison with the cacophony of the backing takes us to emotional heights in which again Vile fears are highlighted “When everytime I grow into a man -Chaos comin’ around the bend“.
(Watch My Moves) is just as much an exploratory journey through the ages and psyche of Kurt Vile for the listener as it it for the artist. A journey vital for every musical traveller.
Quiffed Owl 