Last Year's Man - 'Wild, Wild Heart'
The heart of the Pacific Northwest’s earthy nature is not lost on Last Year’s Man’s Tyler Fortier, with his pretty, rustic folk sound painting imagery of grand mountains, rugged coastlines and vast wildlife. His debut album, ‘Brave The Storm’, is set to release on November 13th, 2020, following its first two singles. The title track came first, a melancholic folk ballad accompanied by strings and a stunningly heart-breaking harmony from Oregon-born folk & Americana artist, Anna Tivel. It’s a powerful practice in tugging at heartstrings with lyrics about lovers in bed, braving the storm. This track seemed like a sign of good things to come when Last Year’s Man then dropped ‘Wild, Wild Heart’, and we got more showstopping, sombre folk.
The tones found in the finger-picked guitar swoop from cavernous lows to angelic and airy highs that sound like rain trickling against a window. It’s almost reminiscent of tracks like ‘Who by Fire’ from Leonard Cohen’s legendary ‘New Skin For The Old Ceremony’ album. And, similarly, both Leonard’s & Tyler’s vocals roll into their songs like smoke, adding warmth and depth.
‘Wild, Wild Heart’ speaks to a timeless aching and existentialism that has long existed in traditional folk music. Last Year’s Man waxes poetic on the contradictions between the insignificant and yet strongly important presence of an individual life. Comparing himself to the earth around him, he leaves us an important reminder: that we’re all wild at heart.
Words of Curtis Saunders