Rob’s Album Of The Week: Langhorne Slim’s Strawberry Mansion

COVID-19 has brought a flurry of emotions upon all of us. We’ve all been experiencing pain, uncertainty and a craving for something positive in a world where very few things seem to be going right. These feelings can create incredible music while telling stories that relate to the masses. Langhorne Slim has a knack for this and his eighth album, Strawberry Mansion, that was released on January 29 via Dualtone Records captures our collective senses during this current situation. All the songs on the 19 track record were written on a daily basis at his home in Nashville to reignite creativity after a tornado roared through the city and the pandemic hit.

Slim exhibits his trademark folk approach to music with a mix of guitar chords and piano notes taking the lead. The most impressive part of the album is that nothing within the vast amount of songs feels like filler. Often with a large LP such as this one there are at least a few that seem hollow and empty. With Slim, his talent has always been at a consistently high level and his new album is a grand example of it. There’s also a lot of versatility keeping things fresh within the record that makes it a pleasure to listen on repeat.

I got that live music itch these days. Fortunately some venues where I live in Providence have been doing virtual shows and I’ve been…