I was up a bit earlier on a Saturday than usual, mostly because of the two new kittens we adopted last night. They didn’t wake me up (they are very polite for kittens), I was just excited.
Disc 1866 is… “I Love People”
Year of Release: 2025
What’s up with the Cover? This is not the cover - The actual cover is a photo of Hanson (also in a suit) in the centre of a gunsight. What is above is a picture of Cory Hanson from his Bandcamp profile. If you want to view the actual cover (and/or buy the album - which is awesome - visit Hanson's Bandcamp site here.
As for this rare "go find it yourself" moment, maybe I just needed a break from violent imagery on a Saturday morning in a house newly full of kittens. Or maybe I thought I'd provide a "trigger warning" before you decide if you want to go contemplate the cover on your own. If you are OK with viewing the image I've described, go take a look and then read my thoughts below. If you are not OK, then just skip to "How I Came To Know It" and carry on from there.
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For readers who decided to take a look, you may have also noted that the title of the album is in quotes. Is Cory Hanson quoting himself or is he suggesting that deep down he doesn’t really love people at all? Or, given that the person in the sights of the scope is Hanson himself, maybe he’s suggesting a lack of self-love?
Whatever the case, the combination of the aggressive graphic and the passive aggressive punctuation leads one to thinking, which is maybe the intent here.
How I Came To Know It: I already knew I liked Hanson from his previous album, 2023’s “Western Cum” (more about that when I roll it). This led me to check out his latest when it came out.
How It Stacks Up: I have two Cory Hanson albums and if you’ve been diligently reading, you already know which two. I like them both, but I’m here to stack, not equivocate. I’ll put “I Love People” at #1.
Ratings: 4 stars
“I Love People” is less a statement of philanthropy, and more a question posed by Cory Hanson to himself. Does he love people, or are they more a confusing mix of good, bad and just animal instincts? Or is he asking these questions about himself, and everything external is a that same question reflecting back in different lights? There are a lot of layers to this onion, and Hanson is here to peel them back and divine the resulting patterns for meaning.
Before we get into that, let’s note that for those of you who like the psychedelic rock sounds of Hanson’s parent band, Wand, or the harder rock stylings of his previous solo record “Western Cum” be warned: this record is many steps to the mellow of that.
Instead of doing more of the same, Hanson has embraced a folk/country vibe here that feels like a reborn Laurel Canyon sound. The Byrds or the Flying Burrito Brothers reimagined for the 2020s. it doesn’t feel derivative at all, as Hanson is not copying a sound, just embracing a vibe.
Gone for the most part is any guitar reverb or odd arrangements, replaced with what could best be called optimistic anxiety. The record feels hopeful in places, but it is also world weary and uncertain. Maybe it is best exemplified in the opening stanza of “I Don’t Believe You”:
“You tell me the wolf is at the door
And he's gonna slaughter all the hens
The rats have eaten through the crops
And there's nowhere to bury the dead
Well I do appreciate your words
Yet I don't care what you've said
Cause I don't believe you”
The arrangement is piano forward and feels majestic and deliberate, and even though there are some minor chords and step downs to lead you to a place of discomfort, the undercurrent of the melody is “tired, but still standing.” It’s one of music’s great “don’t let the bastards get you down” moments.
Other times Hanson gets metaphysical in his explorations of doubt. On “Final Frontier” he notes that:
“Well, it’s good to be God
Cause when the shit hits the fan
You just go on believing that you don’t exist.”
On first blush, it’s a bit apocalyptic but the message is a hopeful one – you’ve got all the power you need for this moment, and all you gotta do is believe in yourself.
While a lot of Hanson’s songs are more explorations of thought than stories, near the end he lands a gem of a character study with “Old Policeman”, a song about a worn out and weary cop. While you could easily read this song as an indictment of a policeman who has lost touch and needs to retire, Hanson’s depiction is artful and sympathetic in strange ways. This cop has some bad work habits, but he’s also a sad and lonely soul that no longer feels connected to his community – in no small part because his job creates a separation. Like a lot of songs on “I Love People” its complex, layered, and offers no easy answers.
“Old Policeman” is mostly a heavily played and emotional piano piece, with some light horn in the background that combined makes you feel…tired. It’s indicative of a record that consistently knows what mood, melody and arrangement is necessary to pull every ounce of meaning out of its songs.
This record may not be what Wand or Cory Hanson fans will necessarily expect, but it is a damn fine record, and a likely contender for 2025’s Top 10.
Best tracks: Bird on a Swing, I Don’t Believe You, Final Frontier, Bad Miracles, Old Policeman
2 comments:
Hey Logan. Andrew here. Always love your words. And "I like people" like you. I have a bit of a different take on the God quote. It seems to me like he's saying you don't have to take responsibility when the shit hits the fan because if you don't exist, you don't have any responsibility for it. Personally, "I don't believe in Zimmerman, I just believe in me."
A thoughtful interpretation I hadn't considered...thanks!
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