While undergoing treatment for cancer last year, the country-inclined troubadour Joshua Ray Walker worried that his creative life might be nearing an end. Determined to carry on, the Dallas-based artist set out to record enough music for three albums. The first, the familiar-sounding Tropicana, was released four months ago. Now, the second is arriving, and it’s a whole different story. Incorporating everything from electro-pop to folk to electric blues, the fascinating Stuff mixes whimsy, dark humor, and poignant insights to offer a thought-provoking perspective on the deeper meaning of everyday items.
This intriguing project imagines the inner lives of inanimate objects offered at a yard sale. Anyone who’s ever named (and even talked to) a beloved car or become deeply attached to a favorite t-shirt beyond its useful life will relate to how Walker imbues such seemingly ordinary things as a rotary phone, vintage radio, and old perfume bottle with human feelings. In the process, he connects the fears and regrets of these castoffs with his own reflections on mortality.
