Album Review: Orville Peck – Mule
Orville Peck has an air of mystery to him — the masked face, the cowboy hat, a deep croon, and a musical world that sits between classic country, Americana and Western folklore. Mule, released via Warner, as his fourth album, is possibly his most revealing one yet, unfolding as a chronological account of the year that nearly broke him, confronting addiction, heartbreak, sobriety and the difficult process of rebuilding yourself when things go sideways. There’s plenty of cowboy mythology here, but Peck has more baggage (the title feeling rather apt), so why not use his platform to not only produce a track or two, but use his listeners as a free therapist! SO… let’s sit back in the chair and listen to Peck unravel – I hope he doesn’t start talking about his mother!!
Beginning with the short but sweet Prologue, featuring a choral group of Emmylou Harris, Noah Cyrus, and Allison Russell, and a very chancel (where the choir sits in the Church, you heathens) feel to it, and moves swiftly to the more country feel of Big Ol’ House, replete with big statement guitar chords and musical build ups to a crescendo, all with a banjo weaving in and out of focus… the vocals were not the centre stage for me.
Already Gone has a 1950’s Americana feel, about feeling ‘over the edge’ and how you cannot be so if you find the help you need, while Rehab Blues follows, aptly named for both the musical style (thought with a country lilt) and the lyrical content. Ring the Bell feels like it’s straight from the 1990s, and I kinda like it in a weird nostalgia way, while Blue Skies has a cinematic, straight from Young Guns 2 soundtrack feel to it (and I’m down for that – probably the best track on the album for me), and The Fall is a slower track, that pulls at the heartstrings – I thought the chords to the bridge are quite Mumford & Sons-like.
A higher vocal tone and back to Americana for Cowboy Heart, which I’ve no doubt will be extremely popular with the fans, as will The Breeze, the Grass, the Mourning Dove and Me, but for totally different reasons – which feels like the music is straight from proper old school country. Run Out of Road is incredibly chart-friendly catchy track, while Too Little, Too Late has a rockabilly, Roy Orbison reincarnate vibe to it, and penultimate track War of the Worlds is also fantastic lyrically, which feels almost like an explanatory letter of apology to himself. We close proceedings strongly with title track Mule – a slow sombre track with not much more than a voice and a guitar… a fine closer to a fine album.
I cover a lot of Country (more by accident/fate than on purpose, I assure you), and Mule isn’t just one of those ‘churn it out’ albums that you get, both in that industry and in general across the music industry as a whole – more often than not from the third of fourth albums of singer/songwriters who have run out of interesting material to write about or have lost the hunger or the je ne sais quoi. Peck took time away from music to get sober, and this is reflected in both the quality and theme of content, and also in the sense that he still has the hunger. The tracks are punchy in length, and a good variety of styles, whilst remaining under the same broad umbrellas of Americana and Country. As alluded to earlier, country isn’t my go to genre, but I would happily listen to this album again, so I can only imagine how Peck and, more broadly, true country fans will feel, as well as those who can hear their own story and struggles in his lyrics.
