Consistency, thy name is Thomas Anderson. (Cliché: thy name is rock critic.) Oklahoma’s most prolific and hyperliterate songwriter is both predictable and irresistible on his latest album Letters From the Hermit Kingdom. Three chords, simple drum patterns, and barrages of lyrics sit tightly in Anderson’s spare arrangements, as they have since he began working alone in his home studio fifteen-odd years ago. But these are features, not bugs – the owner/operator of self-publisher Angry Young Grad Student Music eschews anything remotely fancy in the production in order to keep the focus squarely on his songs. Not only does this approach allow us to appreciate Anderson’s seemingly effortless ability to craft logical but clever rhymes (an increasingly lost art in the world of tracks more snippets of ideas than fully-fleshed out songs), but it allows us to detect his points – the bemused resignation of “Ciudad de Mexico,” the nostalgic melancholy of “Old 66,” the sarcastic celebration of these tech-driven “Brighter Days” – without having to peel back layers of digital production to do it. Listeners who crave novelty and variety may not get it, but they’re missing the point. Anderson comfortably and confidently owns his sound, and – as usual – it draws you in with tunes that display their intelligence without insulting yours.
