Soul's Core - Shawn Mullins > Reviews > Highly addictive

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Not applicable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Absolutely beautiful music
Disadvantages:	Not enough songs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The first time I ever heard of Shawn Mullins was back in 1999. My cousin threw this CD, Soul's Core, at me (it only hurt a bit) and said that she thought this was something that I would enjoy. Don't ask me what she based that on since in those days I only listened to The Cure (yes, I know, that cannot be healthy; you must be really weird, etc etc), but I decided to give it a chance and put it into my CD-player. Little did I know that that would be the first time of literally thousands that I would listen to Shawn Mullins' soothing voice.

First some information about the man himself. When he grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, he was surrounded by music. His grandfather, mother, sister and brother were all musically gifted, and he got his first drum kit at the tender age of four. His dad had a big record collection, and in there you could find, among others, Kris Kristofferson (or at least some of his albums) who wrote the song Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down featured on Soul's Core. About this song Mullins wrote in the sleeve "One of the first songs I ever heard and loved", but I'll come back to that later.

When growing up Mullins played in different garage bands as well as in the high school jazz band. After having served in the army he started to work towards getting himself a music career, and his big break came in 1998 with the song Lullaby from Soul's Core. This was Shawn Mullins eighth album, realesed by Columbia in July 1998, and there have been five more since then.

So the obvious question is why did I decide to write a review about an album that was first released eight years ago? Well, after listening to it that first time I have not been able to stop. When I bought my mp3-player it was the first album that I transferred, and before that I played it so much that I've had to buy a new copy three times. And to this day I still listen to at least one of the songs from this album each day. The music never gets old, and even though I know all the songs by heart they still don't feel predictable somehow. I cannot really explain why I like this particular album so much, but if you listen to it you will understand, and you too will most probably be addicted.

"Tell me about the songs!", I hear you demand. And yes, I will tell you about them, but first things first. The sleeve would not be very special (yellowish with a picture of The Man himself) if it wasn't for the fact that the look in his eyes makes my knees go weak. I'm fairly sure that not everyone experiences this, but feel free to investigate it! Inside you find all the lyrics written on a background of black and white pictures of Shawn Mullins (and other indistinguishable things), and there are two more yellowish pictures. One of the best features is that most lyrics are accompanied by a short note; sometimes just a date and place, but sometimes a short reflection like the one about Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down that I mentioned above.

I'm not good with genres, but I guess this could be described as soft country-rock. That description bothers me, though, since it makes the music sound boring, which it really isn't. All the way through the music is very strong and it complements the lyrics beautifully. Most lyrics are stories about people going about their everyday lives, but there are a few exceptions, like, for instance, the first track on the CD...

Anchored in You:
A love song about how you can be in love but still have a wild spirit. In all his lyrics Mullins uses a very poetic language and there are lots of metaphors. Here he writes about how "love is an ocean, I'm anchored in you."

Lullaby:
This is the song that made Shawn Mullins famous, and it's a good song however not my favourite. It's a tragic story about a girl that grew up in LA and now has a hard time finding happiness. However Mullins is trying to comfort her with his lullaby: "everything's gonna be alright, rockabye, rockabye."

The Gulf of Mexico:
These lyrics were "[t]aken from a journal entry written in the Florabama parking lot" and the song is about the life of a disillusioned housewife who stopped loving her husband a long time ago. In this song you also find one of my favourite quotes: "freedom's just a metaphor, you got nowhere to go."

September in Seattle:
In this song we get to accompany Mullins himself on a train ride from Seattle to Portland. He reflects on what he sees, first while waiting for the train then from the train's windows; "you see the best and the worst here, the richest and the poor, from the mansions on the hilltop, to the red dirt floor." This is the most upbeat song on this CD, and for once the piano is given a more prominent role than the guitar.

Twin Rocks, Oregon:
This is Shawn Mullins at his best. It is just him and his guitar and a touching story about a meeting between a young man and a man who's lived on the road for 15 years. This is, according to me, one of the best songs ever written, and there is even a moral to be found: "I said "I don't reckon I'll be makin' it big, you know it's hard to get rich off a tout of coffee house gigs" and he said "yeah, but ain't it a blessin' to do what you wanna do...""

And on a Rainy Night:
When it comes to this song the music is actually stronger than the words. It's about loneliness and longing to be with the one you love, and Mullins uses the music in an amazingly clever way to get his message across.

Tannin Bed Song:
This song is about a few hours in a woman's life. It starts with her lying in the tannin' bed and ends with her packing up her belongings and leaving the trailor park to get away from a twister. The lyrics are not life-altering in any way, but that is also why I like them.

Soul Child:
This song is, in my opinion, about how you sometimes feel really low and worthless, and who has not experienced that feeling once or twice in their life? Luckily, Mullins manages to bring some hope and support to those people... "be strong, hold on, lotta love to go around, stay wild, soul child, don't you let 'em bring you down."

Ballad of Billy Jo McKay:
"my name's billy jo mckay, I just turned 16 yesterday, i'm gonna get the nerve one day, to get outta here." Those are the first four lines of this song, and like with most songs on this album you get to hear about a few hours in someone's life. Still in this particular case I'm really touched by the story and when we're told that the mother is dead and the father is a drunk you cannot help but thinking of all the children who are living this very story.

Patrick's Song:
This is a song dedicated to a man called Patrick Cosgrove who died in 1997. It is very emotional, and you can hear the pain in Mullins' voice when he sings "alone in your room, with an artist inside of you, you died way too soon, but I can still feel you".

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down:
Even though Kris Kristofferson is the man behind this song I think it's one of the strongest tracks on this CD. Other people have recorded this song, for instance Johnny Cash, but this is by far the superior version. It's fairly close to the original, however, as with all other songs, Mullins sings it like he really means it. It's about those Sundays when you're walking around in a haze, wishing you were stoned again like last night.

You Mean Everything to Me:
This is the obligatory love song dedicated to his partner, and it could easily have become tacky. However, due to the wonderful music, it doesn't feel at all awkward, and believe me, I always cringe when people are declaring their love in public. Instead it's beautiful, maybe because the lyrics are so simple and understated; he ends the song by simply stating "you mean everything to me". No grand gestures. No 'I love you so much it hurts and I'll die if you ever leave me'. Nothing embarrasing at all, actually. Very refreshing.

Shimmer:
The last track of this CD is about how you should try to make the best of the life you have and take care of those around you. I think this is like a conclusion where he more or less sums up the rest of the songs and describes his philosophy on life:

"we're born to shimmer
we're born to shine
we're born to radiate
we're born to live, we're born to love
we're born to never hate"

Something I haven't really mentioned before is that one of the things that make this CD so great is Mullins' voice. It's sensitive yet extremely manly (you know what I mean, girls) and therefore it suits the songs perfectly.

The reason why I focused on the lyrics in this review is that when it comes to Mullins' songs, the lyrics are what you notice the most. When you listen to this CD you will find that you stop what you're doing just so you can pay attention to what is being said. The music is consistently great, but it is the lyrics that make this album so special.

To me Shawn Mullins is one of the top three singer/songwriters in the world. This album is perfect to listen to on a rainy day or when you just want to relax and take some time to think, however if you're looking for music to play at your next party then you might want to choose something else.

The CD lasts for 51 min 37 sec and is available online and in most record stores. The price varies, but you should be able to buy it for around £9 (In Sweden it costs £3.50, but that's only because Swedish people wouldn't recognise great music if it jumped up and bit them in their you-know-what).

All opinions expressed above are my own, and since the interpretation of poetry (yes, what Mullins write is poetry) is subjective they may differ from yours. Also, all quotes in this review have been taken from the sleeve.