Sperry Alan, aka Truro, Nova Scotia singer/songwriter John Alan Sperry, has recently put out his new album, Before Our Time. His third album, it is easily some of Sperry’s most autobiographical and personal music, acting like a detailed, concept record of his own life. Fresh and brimming with life, the music is rarely stripped or lacking accompaniment, and the unbridled passion presented makes Sperry Alan fit easily into the role of a punk folk troubadour, reminiscent of artists such as Neil Young and Eddie Vedder. From the grunge of lead single “Hold On Tight” to the piano-led “Made of Mistakes I Am,” Sperry’s voice is as poetic as it is honest.
About half of the songs are under two minutes in length, and serve as tiny vignettes to the larger story of the album as a whole. The best of these shorter songs, “I Maintain” is as melancholy as it is taciturn, and the nursery rhyme-esque “As I Get Older” revolves entirely around the lyrics “As I get older/Being solidifies.” Yet it is a trilogy of sorts towards the end of the album that make up some of the greatest moments here: “Rock & Roll Life,” “My Woman,” and “I’ve Got It All;” all three intertwined in their chugging, Crazy Horse rawness. But long before the end of this album does Sperry Alan solidify another fine addition to his already impressive discography.
