Justin Townes Earle: Single Mothers
For his fifth full-length album, Justin Townes Earle doubled down on the more laid-back, R&B-influenced sound he carved out on his previous 2012 record. On “Single Mothers”, the Tennessee songwriter plays the role of soul crooner (“White Gardenias”), roadhouse bluesman (“My Baby Drives”), and high-lonesome balladeer (“Pictures in a Drawer”) with equal grace. The claustrophobic, burnt-out blues of “Today and Lonely Night” is the real highpoint, a vintage Earle tune that climaxes when the singer gives his excuse to stay in on a Friday night in New York: “Darling, I just don’t feel much like going to Brooklyn tonight,” he moans, possessed with the voice of someone who’s seen far too much and needs to say nothing more. That same sort of sinister subtext can be found on “My Baby Drives,” where the narrator who’s all-too happy to be riding shotgun refuses to reveal why he’s been unable, lately, to take the wheel. “Single Mothers” may trick you into thinking its a simple record, but it just may be Earle’s darkest.
Single Mothers was released on September 9, 2014 via Vagrant Records and is available now . Combined with Absent Fathers, the double album perfectly showcases exactly why Justin Townes Earle is considered a forefather of Contemporary Americana. Hailed as an album that’s “showing the world that alt-country can be pretty dope,” (Noisey/Vice), “Single Mothers” has had great radio success,
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