MC Taylor, frontman of Hiss Golden Messenger, writes with the kind of fervent simplicity of Joni Mitchell, as evidenced on "Mercy Avenue," the album benchmark from Messenger's latest, I'm People. There’s an honesty to the story about everyday people living, barely getting by, and learning hard truths about life. “Lucy's living in her Cadillac,” sings Taylor. “It smells like ‘Slow Hand’ / Doc says she ain't coming back / Oh, Mercy Avenue's savage.
Taylor’s honeyed vocals drip with the wisdom that only aging can bring. “Everybody’s getting older,” he reflects. There’s a coziness to the story, too, like he’s inviting you in to get warm by a roaring fire and gossip about your neighbors–who’s divorcing who, who left town, who’s having a baby, and the like. A joy about rediscovering what it means to be fully, truly alive radiates outward and permeates every inch of the album. Self-described as an “intensely human record,” I’m People drives down to the heart of existence: that we’re all people stumbling our way through life.
