Joey Cape - A Good Year To Forget LP

Originally known as the singer, songwriter, and founder of both LAGWAGON and BAD ASTRONAUT, JOEY CAPE has established himself as a recognized solo artist over the past 15 years. His solo ventures have allowed him to stretch the bounds of his musical stylings, highlighting more diverse instrumentation, subdued pace, and experimental elements. The one constant, of course, is his unique ability to craft unforgettable songs. As with pretty much everyone on the planet, 2020 was a challenging year for Joey. At the onset he was going through difficult transitions on multiple fronts. Then the pandemic hits, and Joey finds himself dealing with things he had never experienced before all at once. The result is A Good Year to Forget, a record that encapsulates all the trials and tribulations of the 12 months that inspired it. Written entirely in isolation in a makeshift home recording studio at his motherÕs house, Joey Cape was able to create a beautiful, warm record that captures the pure essence of its songs. Hushed and haunted, thereÕs an almost Nick Drakeian poignancy to these 12 songs, especially on the wistful ÒThe Poetry in Our MistakesÓ and the forlorn-yet-somehow-uplifting ÒSaturday Night Fever.Ó ÒCome Home,Ó a song inspired directly by words his mother had spoken to him on the phone, is a beautifully melancholy, slightly folky tune full of hurt and longing that also manages to be reassuring at the same time. Elsewhere, ÒUnder the DoormatÓ is a harrowingly beautiful ode to a lost love of the past. ÒCheck Your Ego at the DoorÓ is a ballroom lament steeped in timelessness, while ÒFictionalÓ is a scornful take on the false images and lives that proliferate on social media. Despite JOEY CAPEÕs isolation while writing A Good Year to Forget, his fans will hear much more than just a voice, guitar, and bass on this record. Indeed, he ended up playing a plethora of instruments when recording the album, including electric and lap steel guitars, piano, mandolin, and drums. Additional final flourishes were added at fellow Bad Astronaut band member THOM FLOWERS' studio and SEAN MCCUE's Coyote Road Studios. A Good Year to Forget finds the positive in the negatives to become a record of pure triumphant beauty.