The music of Drew Holcomb comes equally in reassuring and refreshing measures. You can mothball interaction with it and then bounce back with all the feel-good familiarity intact. For those who picked him up in the midst of promotion for the 2013 release GOOD LIGHT, it was business as usual as its successors materialised every couple of years to cement a longstanding appeal. Ascension in the US became the order of the day to the extent that reach accompanied praise and influence. The downside for UK fans was that gigs over here started to thin out. The Bullingdon in Oxford used to be a stopping off point with a support slot for Police Dog Hogan in 2014 and a not unexpected headline gig the year after. Whether this renewal comes back with a trickle or a vengeance, there is now the added spice of new music. STRANGERS NO MORE is reflection on life since the last album in 2019. Therefore, much to chew and mull over.
Of course, the music of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, to address the formality, is constantly seeking new ears and anybody dropping in for the first time won't need long to tap into the craft and guile of an artist adept at finding a listener's sweet spot. The eleven tracks driving this 42-minute breeze come across as crisp and classy. The trademark lucid accessibility is embedded into a sound that represents Holcomb's southern roots. The wrapping is gold leafed malleable Americana; the sort that is more genre-free than genre-bending. You can easily see why the sell reaps rewards without failing to acknowledge the endeavours undertaken to promote an artist and music that doesn't always comply with big label trends.
It is hard to look past two upbeat numbers as the album's most appealing axis. These give a gentle nudge that sad songs don't need to rule the roost entirely. 'Find Your People' brings the album to life straight after the fairly low key opener 'Fly'. The theme is likely the result of downtime navel gazing, but isn't that what songwriters do best. Let them do their bit and us listeners feast on the produce. In this song, the writing of Holcomb rings true and hats off to sowing this track into your mind from first play.
'Dance with Everybody' takes the air of positivity to a new level in the rump of the album's second half. The sentiment of the album title is explicitly extolled in the lyrics. A slice of tub-thumping does no harm as the chorus repeatedly takes hold. A recording credit goes to The National Parks alongside a co-writing credit with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show fame. The other notable co-writing partner is Natalie Hemby, who assists with the album finale 'Free (Not Afraid to Die)'. This is as low key as the opener and forms a complementary bookend. It is also an apt closing message on a set of songs that have had time to ferment from birth to fruition.
One of the more easily identifiable and describable tracks is 'On a Roll'. Here, harmonica blow hard and the sound solidifies to stamp on the ground of heartland rock. A bigger production is no obstacle for Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and although his UK shows nearly a decade ago were on the simpler side, you can imagine them a lot grander in the US now. The song stands out as the one where Drew Holcomb completely hands over the songwriting role to band member Nathan Dugger. He also brings a touch of steel guitar to the odd track to inject a minimal slice of twang. Though this far from defines the record.
Cason Cooley is also listed as a studio member of the Neighbors, and joins in on the songwriting process as well. He gets a co-credit on the straight up rocker 'Strange Feeling' that you can drill down to some appealing rhyming patterns in the lyrical structure. One for those who like a literary dip, easily done on an album where the architect leaves space for listener's to induce an active dive.
Right alongside Drew Holcomb in life and music is wife, Ellie Holcomb. She has a fledgling solo career of her own to enhance an ultra creative musical family and appears once on this album supplying backing vocals to 'Gratitude'. This is the second Ketch Secor co-write on the record, but Holcomb shows the benefit of writing alone on two other tracks that add to the sophisticated diversity of the album. The lyrically imposing chorus to 'Troubles' catches the ear, while it is a slightly retro rock 'n' roll vibe in 'That's On You, That's on Me' that owns the reception of this solo write.
STRANGERS NO MORE is a full bodied stylish album that heralds a return to release status for an artist with a seemingly bottomless pit of bountiful content. Drew Holcomb has a substantial past and prosperous future ahead of him. When in full flow, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors fulfil the prophecy of no holds barred and how meaningful music can inflate to a sound where you feel potential is limitless. Now all that is required is a renewed international focus on the live front. Rich pickings may be there at home, but surely nothing can beat reaching out far and wide.
