Act I: The Lake South, The River North - The Dear Hunter
Track List:
Battesimo Del Fuoco
The Lake South
City Escape
The inquiry of Ms. Terri
1878
The Pimp and the Priest
His Hands Matched His Tongue
The River North
I’ve got a week planned!
I came across this artist while searching for album suggestions online and this seems neat. This album starts a 6 part story. Of which only 5 parts are out but who doesn’t like to start an unfinished story? I’ve read enough unfinished tales that I understand the person making them may not know how to finish or may not want to so they may forever be unfinished, it doesn’t mean the art doesn’t deserve to be consumed and celebrated. Or this could suck I didn’t prelisten to any of this band. I guess if it becomes completely insufferable I will just ignore my plan for this week and grab some album from 1973 and listen to that. I do hope it’s good however.
Battesimo Del Fuoco
An acapella tale of a woman dying in childbirth.
The Lake South
Now an instrumental. A playful french horn sounding instrument mimicked by strings, trumpets and more. The bridge becomes clustered and discordant, then reprises back to the start.
City Escape
Sudden guitar! This reminds me of Muse. This song sounds really neat. I like the bell's instrumental part. I think we are sticking with the same terminology in the first song. I think the flames that burned down were the mother, that I think is Ms. Terri (pronounced as mystery in the song). It almost seems like she was killed by a jealous woman, perhaps the father of the child. I think the child may be our main character. Perhaps the child is the product of an affair of a wealthy or pious man and a woman in a significantly lower social circle.
The inquiry of Ms. Terri
This song falls in place right in the tracks left by the last one. Perhaps the mother didn’t die in childbirth. It seems that she is still alive but has now become a prostitute, or has been one since the start. She fears that her actions will affect her child who is currently too young to understand what she does. I think the Dime may be where she works.
1878
A time for this story? So I think the song starts with discussing Ms. Terri’s feelings of fear of the past and her actions potentially affecting her child. She then thinks about her child and his perceptions of the word and as he ages will want to learn more about her. I think we have some world building too, discussion of the river and lake, perhaps this is where they are living and where the child can play. The chorus about falling in a hole. Maybe the kid explores his surroundings and finds old bunkers or something. Assuming this is in the US we are only a decade or so out of the civil war at this point.
The Pimp and the Priest
This is much more ominous, like a dark jazz feel. Well it looks like the pimp and the priest are one in the same. I am not sure if the child and his mother live at the brothel but I think they do, this could perhaps also be a church or church adjacent establishment.
His Hands Matched His Tongue
I think the boy has learned the truth of his mother’s profession and is having difficulty dealing with it. It also seems like his mother has perhaps passed away or left him. I don’t get a sense of time passing here but I suspect this album is the childhood of the character and this song represents his coming of age.
The River North
In instrumental. Piano and foley of vinyl crackle. A lot of vinyl crackle, then a 4th wall break and the wind section warming up? Weird but neat, kinda feels like an interlude between acts of a play.
Compelling
The best word I could use to describe what I’ve listened to is compelling. I want to start Act II now, but will wait until tomorrow. Felt like a folky prog album with some emo screaming from the 2000’s. Overall I rather enjoyed that and will be continuing tomorrow.
