Kurt Vile – ‘b’lieve i’m goin down’

Despite being one of the most prolific and well respected artists at work today, Kurt Vile is often narrowly labeled as a musician whose sound conjures up the image of a dreamy stoner making dreamy acoustic tunes in a hazy, smoke filled studio.

We need only look to the most recent issue of Mojo for evidence of this, describing Vile as a “long-hair cosmic Philly pop stoner-songwriter”. KV is written about in this lazy way all too frequently. Just to be clear, Kurt doesn’t smoke weed. Having said this, there are elements of this image which ring true; Vile’s lackadaisical singing voice and hippy-ish long hair can make him come across as horizontally chilled out. Yet overall, this perception of Kurt Vile is typical of a failure by critics to fully engage with his work which, in actual fact, is exploring new and exciting sonic territory all the time.

b’live im going down…, the sixth studio album from Vile is no exception. What is striking about the album is how it constantly evokes Smoke Ring For My Halo’s most tender moments, feeling more intimate and acoustically driven than his more recent work. It is interesting to note how certain riffs and lyrics are plucked from Smoke Ring, and used here for more melancholic purposes.  He recycles the hopeful ideal of the ‘believers and lovers’ from ‘Jesus Fever’ in the final song ‘Wild Imagination’ and, on the song ‘Kidding Around’, Kurt even reproduces a picking pattern redolent of Smoke Ring’s ‘Peeping Tomboy’.

Yet it is also a distinct movement from both Smoke Ring and Wakin On A Pretty Daze, offering a more stripped down sound to which he has previously given us. This is not to say that Vile does not experiment to a great extent with this album, as he takes to the banjo and the piano to create simple, wistful melodies. This stands in contrast to Wakin On A Pretty Daze, in which part of the allure is the multitude of instruments and sounds used to create long, grandiose tracks. The new sound KV offers us is, at times, despairingly melancholic – more so than usual, it seems – signalling one of the most notable ways that the album feels different to his previous material. It is more intimate than what we might expect from KV. This is not to say that Kurt has previously feigned intimacy; far from it. But with b’lieve I’m goin down, he puts aside some of the grander, concisely orchestrated moments for an album which feels like it was recorded in his bedroom.

The new sound KV offers us is, at times, despairingly melancholic – more so than usual…

‘Pretty Pimpin’, the first single taken from the album, is driven by an ambivalent melody which works itself into a frenzy. The lyrics are somewhat downbeat, describing a feeling of alienation ostensibly brought on by the world’s worst hangover. Part of the song’s charm lies in Kurt Vile doing the most ‘Kurt Vile’ of voices in his assertion that he “didn’t recognise the boy in the meeeeeeror” — showcasing his Philly twang at it’s best. Something must also be said for the role played by Warpaint’s Stella Mozgawa who provides the drums for ‘Pretty Pimpin’. It’s not that there is anything particularly complex or exciting about the drums, but they sound so clean, and sit perfectly at the front of the mix, as they do throughout most of the album.

Other particularly melancholic highlights are the tracks ‘Dust Bunnies’ and ‘Wild Imagination’. Here KV takes on a lamenting tone, sounding heartbroken and frustrated, having apparently taken to looking longingly at pictures of a lost love and imagining all that could have been — an interesting direction for a married 30 year old man to take.

We must also marvel at Vile’s ability to create a clean rock sound that is simultaneously nostalgic whilst also seeming fresh. Throughout the album, his electric guitar produces that familiar, satisfying metallic twang which sits so perfectly on top of Vile’s frequent use of the drum machine. However, with tracks like ‘I’m an Outlaw’ for example, his Philly accent is accentuated, more drawn out and somber. If possible, b’lieve I’m going down… signals a maturation and a mellowing out in the sonics of an artist whom one didn’t think lacked maturity in the first place.

We must also marvel at Vile’s ability to create a clean rock sound that is simultaneously nostalgic whilst also seeming fresh.

It is this pervasive melancholia which is what is so captivating about this album, signalling the main progression in the sound of b’lieve I’m going down… It feels uncannily like a break up album, playing with elements of the stoner mythos for more melancholic purposes. Although b’lieve im goin down… doesn’t quite live up to the greatness of Smoke Ring, it is a beautiful progression and subtle change in style and subject matter. King Kurt seems sadder these days, but still reigns supreme.