In the press write up accompanying this album, Jon Tyler Wiley confesses an unease that the term 'three chords and the truth' implies honest songs and complex arrangements cannot co-exist. Let's get off to a good start then. Mind you my blog strap line states 'it started with the cliche before branching out where the music mattered'. So an olive branch is offered followed by the assertion that on the evidence of THE LONGING, the music here certainly branches out in innovative and experimental ways to fall within the realm of mattering.
The overarching effect of this album is Wiley nailing the time honoured tradition of saving the best until last. Right from the off there is little doubt that you are entering the rock infused side of Americana as guitars ramp up and beats major on the uptempo side. The full sound is a testimony to the revelation that everything on this album is done solely by this Virginian-based singer-songwriter/multi instrumentalist/producer. You certainly feel in a large scale band environment. While the studio is Wiley's sole domain, we do learn that the act is enhanced to the tune of 'Jon Tyler Wiley and His Virginia Choir' when on the road. However, the here and now is focussed on what rolls out on record.
Before we get to a finale that certainly leaves an impression, eight tracks lay the way led off by 'Wolves'. A slightly scratchy opener that gives way to the rugged and soaring 'St. Mary's River' and the follow on track, the confessional and swirling temperate number 'Whiskey'. A solid start is cemented by the further rock-infused 'Just Another Heartbreak Song' before Wiley's sense of adventure tests the water with a string of different feeling songs.
The pick of a quartet beginning with 'Wannabe' is the faintly psychedelic 'I Saw Her in the Sky'. Despite the laudable intentions of Wiley wanting to challenge the listener, there is an element of conformity in style in how the album ends. The penultimate track 'He Knew Me' is a four-minute slice of pure nostalgia as the loss of heroes including Williams, Haggard and Petty is lamented. Such songs do resonate here, which leaves one more effort to ponder.
Nine-minute songs can hugely divide opinion. Wiley takes that controversy head on with the memorable 'Laredo Texas Oil Well Blues'. Shades of brilliance in how this song evolves shuffle alongside a stamina inducing concentration span that does question whether an alternative approach could have yielded a more positive reception. Shivers of folk-waltz-rock ballad-country all collide in this story song ensuring that at least THE LONGING ends with the thought process spinning and an exposure of what Jon Tyler Wiley does best.