by David Wilikofsky
We’re entering peak list season. I know because I’ve been seeing “Best of 2020” lists pop up all week. I’ve never quite understood why publications rush to anoint the best albums of the year so early; we’ve still got a month to go, and plenty of great music to hear before all is said and done. Case in point: Alrightnik, the debut album from Josh Halper. A classically trained guitarist who studied at Belmont University, Halper has since bounced around the Nashville scene in bands and as a session musician. His debut album is expansive despite its short length, a collection of original songs, covers and instrumentals that perfectly capture the highs and lows of life.
The album is bookended by two tracks that couldn’t feel more opposed. It opens with that Newman cover (“Dayton, OH – 1903”), hewing pretty close to the understated original. A surprisingly earnest track from Newman’s oeuvre, it paints an idyllic picture of small town life without a hint of cynicism. By the time we get to closer “Honest Feeling”, the script has flipped; “I’d rather die than live in this / Town anymore” Halper sings. Between these two tracks is a wide range of sounds and emotions that bleed into one another. The tranquil beauty of “Should Be Glad” is followed by “Whale In a Field”, an Elliott Smith-esque meditation on alienation and loneliness. The classical picking of “Desperation Waltz” leads into the country-tinged “Prelude in E Major”. Taken as a whole, it’s kaleidoscopic.
There’s a lot going on here, but to my mind, more than any other track “Who Knows” captures the true spirit of this album. Halper sings about a night out on the town that he can’t remember, reflecting the same sense of youthful abandon that pervades the album. On paper this should be an unfocused mess, a mishmash of ideas, sounds and textures that don’t all work together. But in the end it isn’t. It’s a cohesive album, using that variety as a way to capture and explore the messiness of life. Classical techniques mix with pop tradition. Sepia-toned nostalgia, idyllic beauty, debaucherous joy and piercing loneliness find ways to coexist together. It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, but Halper does it with aplomb. He’s crafted an audacious debut album, one that guarantees this won’t be the last we hear from him.