Album Review: Sam Russo – Back To The Party

Amidst the ongoing Insta-streams of bedroom based performances during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s perhaps auspicious that singer-songwriter Sam Russo brings his latest release ‘Back To The Party’ via Red Scare Industries. The Haverhill balladeer has attracted attention from quote – bigger/better labels – end quote, but has remained loyal to the Chicago label for this, his 3^rd LP, which drops after a 5 year wait.

Listening to Russo, it’s comfortable to throw around synonyms such as ‘earnest’, ‘heartfelt’ and ‘sincere’. The album opens with the warming tones of ‘Purple Snow’; the rhythmic acoustic rattle twinned with fuzzy overdubs is propelled forward by Russo’s impassioned vocals of a nostalgic love: It’s characteristic of the consistent, stripped-down, driving rock that arrows through tracks such as ‘The Window’ (which appeared last year on Red Scare’s anniversary compilation) and its climatic chorus, and the twin jangle of album closers ‘Corporeal Gloom’ and ‘Basement’.

In between, Russo paints with a delicate palette of instruments: ‘Young Heroes’ is sprinkled with the twinkle of glockenspiel and twang of mandolin; while the vulnerable ‘Darkness’ is punctuated by keys as the lyrics tell us of a man falling apart:  “No-one seemed to notice I was drowning, no-one seemed to care that I was burning alive.” Elsewhere, there are similar explorations of despair “I get ripped down the seams between happiness and agony.” (‘Always Lost’) and injury “Show me everything I’ve lost.” (‘Tears’); ‘Good and Gone’ plays out as an insolent goodbye to small-town mentalities and ‘Anne’ moves from the depths of introspection to the almost battle-cry of the titular ‘character’ against a howling shoegaze backdrop.

Like frank and exposed songwriting with a punchy, direct delivery? ‘Back To The Party’ is available in both digital and physical formats.

More about Sam Russo can be found on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.