M. Lockwood Porter - How to Dream Again

by Malcolm Carter

published: 22 / 12 / 2016

Label: Hidden Trail Records
Format: CD

Flawless and lyrical new album from California-based singer-songwriter M. Lockwood Porter who mixes protest songs with unique love songs

Review

It wasn’t his critically-acclaimed debut nor ‘27’, last year's follow-up, that encouraged this writer to check out the latest album from Berkeley, California’s M. Lockwood Porter; ‘How to Dream Again’ is released in the UK on Brighton’s Hidden Trail Records label which has already issued exceptional albums by Elin Ivarsson and Ellie Ford this year so any album bearing their logo is certainly worth checking out. Also one of the songs on Porter’s third album is titled ‘Joe Hill’s Dream’, and while he’s not alone in highlighting Hill’s story in song (one of the most recent and memorable being the ‘Joe Hill’s Ashes’ album by Otis Gibbs from 2010). Porter’s tale of Hill’s achievements as a member of the Industrial Workers Of The World organization and subsequent execution by firing squad is eloquently expressed in the song. Given Hill’s history you might be expecting some kind of political/protest album and to some degree that’s what ‘How to Dream’ is, but there is also a clutch of what are basically love songs to give the album more scope. Many years ago, long before Porter was even born, it felt that every other week we were presented with an artist who someone would hail as the new Dylan. It got a little tedious after a while and thankfully seems to have disappeared through the years. Listening to the ten original songs on ‘How to Dream Again’ though the first thing that enters the mind is that Porter is more a modern-day Dylan than another other contemporary musician. Try as I might it’s impossible to listen to this album without referencing Dylan’s earlier work. Add a little Springsteen into the proceedings, top it off with a sprinkling of Tom Petty and you’re part of the way there. It’s debatable if there has been a more lyrically powerful album released this year. No doubt Porter’s time spent teaching English at an inner-city middle school (he gained degrees in English and American History from Yale University) has informed some of the songs here. Porter’s a man with something to say who knows exactly how to get his point across, and there’s not one song on ‘How to Dream Again’ that is anything less than captivating. It’s not just a line or two in each song that hits hard; Porter’s lyrical skill is evident in almost every line he sings, so much so that really all a review of ‘How to Dream Again’ needs is to quote a line or two of lyrics from each song. We won’t, of course, do that but if you like your albums to have some meaning, if you want more than the feel-good factor from your listening time, then ‘How to Dream Again’ should be your next purchase. The album kicks of, literally, with ‘American Dreams Denied’ a Springsteen–type melodic rocker, complete with a soaring guitar solo. One can almost see a Jim Steinman influence creeping in there towards the end as the song slows before the final climax, which makes the following song ‘Burn Away’ even more effective. Essentially a love song but one that, like most of his love songs here, dealing with the uncertainty of a relationship, Porter lets the the world-weariness shown in the lyrics inform his vocal performance. With a catchy melody and snatches of steel guitar, it’s in stark contrast to the opening track and the first indication that this album is going to be something special. The harmonica opening to the following song, ‘Bright Star’ evokes both Dylan and Springsteen. It is again a love song in which Porter delivers a heartfelt vocal performance, and his lyrical skills are well to the fore here. As with the next song, ‘Strong Enough’ which sounds like it’s fleshed out with some nice Hammond B3 flourishes, Porter’s lyrics will resonate with most of his listeners. He paints such vivid images in the listener's min. You’ll feel it’s not just Porter living through his songs. After the opening rocker and the three more subdued but extremely effective love songs comes ‘Joe Hill’s Dream’. A pretty melody accompanies Porter’s take on Hill’s struggle and demise. “All these phony folk singers say nothing at all,” Porter sings, but there’s nothing remotely phony about this artist, not just this song but the whole album is one of the most honest performances heard in a long time. “You put the voice of the people in the point of your pen/Can a dream that has died be revived once again?” It’s lines such as those, delivered in Porter’s emotive voice that make ‘How to Dream Again’ an album to cherish. Then just when you think that Porter has delivered his best shot along comes ‘Reach the Top’. Again harmonica opens the song in which the songwriter details the demise of the American Dream with the lines “You might reach the top one day they say, but it ain’t coming cheap”, Porter’s emotive vocals making already disturbing lyrics even more chilling. For ‘The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be’ Porter returns to rocking mode while losing none of the power of the lyrics displayed in the former song. Musically it’s almost 1977 again and with lines like “the future ain’t what it used to be I’m not even sure it was originally/We can afford to live in the land of the free” it’s another winner on all fronts. ‘Charleston’ opens with the news of the Charleston, South Carolina church shootings then highlights the problems we still have with hate, race and division. “There’s a part of my hometown that I was taught to never hang around in grade school/ I learned to draw conclusions from a glance upon a face”; again hard-hitting lyrics which can’t fail to move the listener. ‘How to Dream Again’ is simply stunning. It’s one of those albums that haunts you, which you just know you’re going to revisit time and time again, that you’re going to get something different out of with every play. Despite highlighting the faults in this world it’s not a depressing album. In fact it offers hope and that’s mainly because of Porter’s skill with lyrics. And there we were, thinking that they don’t make them like this anymore…

Track Listing:-

1 American Dreams Denied
2 Burn Away
3 Bright Star
4 Strong Enough
5 Joe Hill's Dream
6 Reach the Top
7 The Future Ain't What It Used to Be
8 Charleston
9 Sad / Satisfied
10 Dream Again

Band Links:-

https://en-gb.facebook.com/mlockwoodpo
http://www.mlockwoodporter.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mlockwoodpor
https://twitter.com/mlockwoodporter
http://www.songkick.com/artists/632267