God Is Saying This To You
“God Is Saying This To You”, the new record by Kurt Vile out on Mexican Summer has been suffering some serious wear and tear on my stereo as of late and I almost feel bad about it because for all Kurt’s ultra-macho, badass moniker and ardent lo-fi sensibility, this record has a real unsinkable heart of gold beating in its chest. “So you want to marry me, well you’ve got my sympathy”, Kurt drawls with the kind of blue bar-stool self-effacement that follows the trail of girlfriends past and rosier time’s hope lost doggedly but always ends up at the bottom of a pint glass. One can only assume Kurt’s seen a fair few of those too, this record is a sometimes slurring, rag-tag affair but is all the better for it, Kurt’s tender wailing carrying a kind of red-cheeked ruddy romance that is impossible to deny as he loses friends and gets lost and chases those ghosts tired.
Perhaps it is he that is the ghost though, the record’s production often means he’s a long way away, a sad, wry voice drifting through the toilet cubicle of your consciousness for a minute or so at a time before dying like a dream again. If Kurt is right and it really is “God That Is Saying This To You”, what he’s saying probably never made the holy scripture and he himself is a far more human, fallible and pained God than you’re likely to encounter in your everyday Church service or burning bush or sacred vegetable cutting. For this I am glad.
The solid copies of the LP are nearly gone but you may be able to get your hands on one through Mexican Summer if you don’t sleep on it.
Kurt Vile - Beach On The Moon (Recycled Lyrics)
