Owen Young’s latest EP, Always Was, comes from an interesting and refreshing place and the fact that he only half-jokingly refers to this as his Boomer album gets to the heart of its direction of travel. The opening title track juxtaposes kids being kids, racing cars and having fun with the ultimate sacrifice that many would later make, as a reminder that the world has always been a turbulent place. It also reminds us that those fellow boomers whose battle cry often seems to be it was better in my day were once the idealistic, utopian hippie kids who were going to change the world. Where did that fire and optimism go?
And all this is his way of saying that in the drive to point out everyone’s failings and faults, we have forgotten to look for the joy in the world. As I said, the world has always been a turbulent place, but there has always been much life and love, excitement and beauty to be found in it too. Aren’t we focusing on the wrong aspects of life?
So after this delicate, acoustic and voice opener, ‘Everyday Heroes’ is slightly more sonically filled out; drums add momentum, Hammond organs delicately swirl, and again Owen refocuses our attention on the good that people are doing away from the spotlight, normal people coming together to make a stand for a better world, small snowflakes that collectively might bring about the avalanche of change.
‘When My Angel Fell’ plays out in that bittersweet way that we can all relate to: the idea that we should celebrate the people who touched our lives, that in many ways continue to do so, rather than mourn their passing and that the grief we feel for such loss is directly proportional to the love we had for them.
‘For My Little One’ ends in an array of beatific bass and chiming guitars, twin harmonies, and a song that reminds us that as we try to remake the world according to our own desires, it is the children and grandchildren we are actually building it for. It’s a prayer for those people just starting the journey of life and what we wish for them, even if we are no longer there to see what they become.
Much has changed since Owen Young’s last release, but here we find the music as delicate and the words as optimistic as ever, and Always Was is a collection of songs that looks past the political pose and performative populism and gets to the heart of the things that really matter.
