[rating=7.00]
Steven A. Clark’s debut LP starts off with the sound of someone getting into a car and putting a cassette tape in. The songs on The Lonely Roller play out like an R&B mix tape of heartbreak and loneliness. The album contains musical elements of a wide range of artists from Michael Jackson to Peter Gabriel. According to Clark the songs are somewhat autobiographical and much of the suffering in the lyrics is self-inflicted.
Throughout the album every song reveals more ill-fated relationships and damaged characters. “I want love/ I need love/ But not you,” Clark bemoans on “Not You.” While some tracks like “Time Machine” are more dance-worthy, the lyrics still carry a sense of heartache and dejection. “And then I heard you say, you say you wish you never met me…I wish I could make a time machine so I could erase myself from your memory, I guess.” Title track “The Lonely Roller” tells a tale of someone making trips to Las Vegas for a woman that is emotionally unavailable but the character can’t get out of his mind. “She said, you know I want you, oh baby/ But I can’t be falling in love.” The melody of the synth-laden track “Floral Print” is appropriately melancholy as Clark laments the loss of a love and how all he has of her is a floral print and purple letter. The following track “Part Two” is a continuation of the song but brings the harmonies to the forefront and adds a drum track proving a hauntingly beautiful footnote to the track. The final track of the album “Young, Wild, Free” leaves the listener with seemingly more uplifting lyrics about an undying love and support for another person.
While the lyrics on the album are most definitely not uplifting, Clark does a great job at portraying the darker side of relationships that most of us don’t like to admit to ourselves let alone to everyone else. According to his bio from his label, Secretly Canadian, Clark is very introverted and was even named “Most Quiet” in his yearbook. For someone so quiet, he certainly found his voice for this album.
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