New Personal Record opens on a strong, if not pessimistic note with the first track “Give Up On Your Dreams.” The song is an ironic twist on the cliche of “it’s never too late.” It has the sound of a Randy Newman song from a Pixar movie but the words are pretty eye-openingly downhearted. The track introduces a tone that resonates throughout the album, Timbs purposefully takes musical and lyrical cliche’s and completely twists them into something that openly mocks the source material. I mean, he even has a track titled “Cliche.”
A few of the songs actually seem like parodies. Someone could tell me that the track “Uneasy Street” was featured in the movie Footloose from the 80s and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I definitely appreciate the things Timbs is trying to do with parts of this record but I wouldn’t exactly say it suffers from an overabundance of subtlety.
It is not to say that New Personal Record relies entirely on songs lampooning musical styles or lyrical tropes. He seems to address the concept of blending these, occasionally overused, techniques into a unique piece of music in the song “Cliche.” It’s actually the highlight of the album for me, there is enough Ryan Adams style alt-country and blues keep me really engaged while it touches on some overall themes for the album.
This album has a TON of diversity between the tracks. Really no two songs sound alike at all and I would be hard pressed to impose a genre on it. Sometimes the guy sounds like Boston and sometimes he sounds like Ryan Adams, honestly there is no way to pin it down and I love it. The music’s quality makes you keep listening but the mystery of what the next song will sound like is what really makes it so easy to listen to the full album in one sitting.
Timbs drives the album through powerful piano. His playing carries the melodic themes through each song, occasionally riffing or soloing particularly in the song “Ugly.” However, what really sets the album apart are the lyrics, you come for the piano, you stay for the words. Don’t be surprised if at one point you audibly say “what the hell?” while listening, it happened to me. Timbs’ dry sense of humor comes through very very strongly throughout, so prepare for a few laughs while you listen.
Enjoy this tune from the record called “Far Away From Here,” a song that is whatever the opposite of a romance is called, recorded live in studio somewhere in Nashville.
-Ryan Schmitz
