John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
by Zena Grieg
published: 29 / 10 / 2024

Label:
Tenor Vossa
Format: Select Format
intro
Defiant ode to survival from John Murry and Michael Timmins on soundtrack album to new documentary ‘The Graceless Age’ about Murry and his battle with drug addiction.
A Little Bit of Grace and Decay’ is the soundtrack accompanying the documentary ‘The Graceless Age' : The Ballad of John Murry’ by Director Sarah Share, which tells the story of Mississippi-raised American musician Murry, his abrupt descent from being on the cusp of stardom in 2013 into addiction and emerging on the other side, coming to terms with his life and exploring a resonating family connection with Novel Prize-winning author William Faulkner, who also had a history of addiction. The soundtrack, written by Murry and Mike Timmins (Cowboy Junkies), the first original material by Murry since 2017, is an unflinching exploration of the dark side of American life including the bloodstained history of his birthplace Mississippi. The album includes stripped-back versions of songs from Murry’s three albums as well as new compositions, interspersed with sections from the documentary score. A haunting sense of desolation and loneliness pervades the songs. Highlights of the eighteen-track collection include: the heartbreaking ‘Wrong Man’; the melancholic ‘Driving (part 1); ‘The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ with its plaintive lines: “The stars are god’s bullet holes/And I’m becoming someone I didn’t know/the river runs wide, the rivers run deep/But darker currents separate you and me”; and the sparse instrumentals ‘Alleyway’ and ‘Tupelo’. Following a special screening of the documentary at London’s Rich Mix on September 16, Murry will be playing a number of acoustic shows at different venues across the UK and Ireland. Atmospheric, poignant, at times disturbing, ‘A Little Bit Of Grace And Decay’ is a defiant ode to survival.
Track Listing:-
1 Grace2 Wrong Man
3 Swamp
4 Silver Or Lead
5 Driving (Part1)
6 Dark Side Of The Moon Again
7 Driving (Part 2)
8 Come Five And Twenty
9 Cave
10 The Stars Are Gods Bullet Holes
11 Alleyway
12 Mother Mary
13 Tupelo
14 Miss Magdalene
15 Murder
16 What Remains
17 Leprechaun
18 Decay
Label Links:-
http://www.tenorvossa.co.uk/Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
most viewed articles
current edition
Spear Of Destiny - InterviewRobert Forster - Interview
Fiona Hutchings - Interview
When Rivers Meet - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song
Brian Wilson - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Pistol Daisys - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Nils Petter Molvaer - El Molino, Barcelona, 24/4/2025
Credits - ARC, Liverpool, 17/5.2025
Gary Numan - Berserker
most viewed reviews
current edition
Peter Doolan - I Am a Tree Rooted to the Spot and a Snake Moves Around Me,in a CircleGarbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
Little Simz - Lotus
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
John McKay - Sixes and #Sevens
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Vinny Peculiar - Things Too Long Left Unsaid
HAIM - I Quit
Eddie Chacon - Lay Low
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart