Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll delivers his tenth studio album We’re Only Human. Laconic, witty and possessed of an ability to render any topic he tackles totally relatable, Carll deftly connects the dots between country, folk and a dash of rock in his songwriting. Throughout his career he’s been recognised and awarded for his laid-back songs that gently lampoon the absurdities of every day life, he’s had Grammy nominations plus Austin and Americana music awards galore.
For this album he turns his gaze inward, “I feel like there’s been a voice riding shotgun all my life, pushing me to do better, but I’ve struggled to listen to it,” Carll says. “The idea behind this record was to do the personal work I needed to do, then codify those lessons in song to serve as sort of breadcrumbs to get me back on the trail if, and inevitably when, I get lost again.”
His knack is to make any subject feel familiar, you can always find a little bit of yourself in his writing. Judging by the the first single, ‘Progress Of Man (Bitcoin & Cattle)’, he is as pissed off as we all should be with the state of the world around us, Carll rips right into the twisted priorities that dictate modern society. “The peace in the East is coming unravelled, whilst there’s Rust on the tractors and dust in the saddle… and are you sure we’re really all in this together?”.
Check out his scorn in the lyric video:
Using your own inner life as material for an album could, in less skilled hands, be just an indulgence, let’s face it there’s a constant stream of up and coming singer songwriters endlessly purging their souls. In Carll’s hands however there is an artful combination of self awareness and an intelligent recognition of universal issues that we can all recognise. He says himself “…I figure If I can look at myself clear-eyed and acknowledge my own shortcomings, it might help me have some grace and acceptance for myself and others.”
It’s an upbeat album full of self deprecating humour and some really profound insights, we’re flawed creatures trying to make the best of the cards we’re dealt. Life is there to be lived and Hayes has provided a stirring soundtrack to it.
