This song from Mark Erelli’s new record Little Vigils is not really representative of the sound or the style of the record. But that’s the case with just about every song on the record. There’s no one sound or style that can sum up Little Vigils. On Little Vigils Mark is content to use different textures and tempos to convey different emotions on a wide range of songs. Whether it’s the delicate twang of “August” or the deathly folk sounds of “Hemlock Grove” this record can simply not be pinned down. Mark Erelli has made a record that is suitable for multiple listens and new discoveries (and new favorite songs) on each listen.
At the moment I am loving the nostalgic rock `n’ roll of “Basement Days” but check in with me tomorrow and I might be on to the anti-religion screed of “Kingdom Come” or perhaps it’ll be the bluegrassy goodness of “Mother of Mysteries”. Either way for now I’m loving the song “Basement Days” which is a look back at the teenage “lets-form-a-band” eagerness and naivety that is usually lost by ones early twenties. The beauty of the song is how it pegs that feeling of awe and wonderment that is usually left behind as we grow up. Ironically the song with it’s chorus of “can’t get back to those basement days” is not completely autobiographical as Mark Erelli has never lost that sense of wonder and the idea that the power of a song is unequaled. I highly recommend this record.
Buy Little Vigils here or here now.
P.S. I’m off for my family’s spring break so I won’t be posting for a week or so. See you soon…
