SISYPHUS HAPPY is the sort of record that if you allow it to burrow deep into your pores a sumptuous high will surface. M Lockwood Porter has captured and savoured a particular fertile patch of his creative whims to tumble headlong into a record that seemingly came out of turbulent personal times. From a clear inner signal to slim down the operation, the result is a simpler production and rounded sum of ten compulsive tracks showing this Oklahoma-raised/Bay Area-based artist is firing flat out on what is now his fifth full length release.
The title is the first interesting thoughtful point on a record getting its release on the increasingly influential label Black Mesa Records. Sisyphus was famously known in Greek Mythology for pushing a boulder eternally up a hill; a metaphor for life's frustrating repetitive blocks. If M Lockwood Porter felt this in his professional career, the fruits of the new record suggest a successful alleviation. A second point of interest is that help making the album is almost entirely in tandem with fellow Oklahoman, the legendary (well if not yet, will soon be) John Moreland. Mixing, co-producing and playing many of the instruments shows the input from this luminary with very little assistance from elsewhere. Using this space M Lockwood Porter proceeds to conjure up a melange of songs lighting up your listening space for thirty-seven minutes.
A faint hint of steel gives a shimmering background to 'Cried Through The Night' kicking things off in a truly touching style mixing with further enhanced musicianship to state that we are in safe hands. Things get deeply personal in the following track, 'I Went Out to Find the Answer', with a statement manoeuvre in the line "I drove the dustbowl highway so many times before" helping make this song one of the album's signature puzzle pieces. 'First Reformed' completes the opening trio in tender mode with some intriguing lines in the lyrics to evoke interest in what M Lockwood Porter is trying to convey in the record.
'Craigslist Song' sets the tone at a higher level to rock out a bit more than what we have heard so far. But then we know that M Lockwood Porter is heavily influenced by old time rockers like Petty, Young, Springsteen, Tweedy et al. The album lands at its midpoint in the acoustically strummed opening to 'The Whim to Walk Upstairs', which eloquently rolls out as a prime number wrapped up in the gentle vocal style of its architect.
There is a simple feel to 'The Dark Before the Morning' with stripped back sensibilities accompanying a melodic effort and juxtaposing a more complex message. A little background reading relates 'The Kid Who Ran Away' to the relationship with his late father and "we both needed something the other couldn't do" stands out as a strong slice of candid songwriting. Steel returns at the start of 'While We're Here' as the pondering of real life continues to fall into the lap of searching themes ripening up to feed the songs that ultimately portray them.
A somewhat therapeutic album glides towards a conclusion first in the optimistic chimes of 'Shine My Little Light' before the exceedingly delightful 'I'd Like To Take You With Me' seals the pertinent effect of a record moving you into a position of being totally in unison with the artist. At this point the reward of your endeavour reaches a sincere level of satisfaction. Eventually SISYPHUS HAPPY defies the inference in the title to the extent that the boulder does reach the top of the hill. M Lockwood Porter is a striving thoughtful songwriter, musician and collaborator. Alongside the wizardry of John Moreland, he as crafted a deftly purposeful record.