I don’t envy any songwriter compelled by the need to purge relationship woes into songs.
Of course, I’m not saying the breakup song isn’t a valid form of art; where genres like pop punk are oversaturated by egotistical tales of “evil ex-girlfriends”, most other genres would lose their foundations without heartbreak. Simply put though, the line between “genuine” and “trite” is extra fine with such topics.
Luckily, a few newcomer acts like Georgia’s Mothers have an expert level grasp on the fact that a compelling breakup song is not really about the breakup, but the self-evaluation after. From the opening mandolin plucks of their harrowingly honest debut, When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired, singer/songwriter Kristine Leschper immediately establishes herself in a unrelentingly stark light. “I don’t like myself when I’m awake,” she lilts on “It Hurts Until It Doesn’t”, sounding perennially on the verge of bawling, but refusing the urge for the album’s 42 minutes.
Coupled with the fact that the song’s new video features “vague blur[s]” of Leschper’s cat Casper, who went missing shortly after filming was completed, Mothers clearly aim for a layered release of life’s suffering. All things considered, it might be in your best interest to get that extra ticket for a shoulder to cry on during their appearance in Boston on April 30th.
