‘Still Fighting the War’ is SLAID CLEAVES' latest long player and follows on from a very successful trio of albums that began with 2004s ‘Wishbones’, by 2006's ‘Unsung’, and more recently ‘Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away’ which really established Slaid as a formidable writing talent.
This LP suggests the acclaim is more than worthy. All songs on the album fall broadly within the country rock and country category, but what makes it stand out from the rest is the quality of the song writing. Slaid has crafted a masterpiece.
On first listen, after I’d heard about four tracks, tales of unemployment, poverty and broken dreams, I thought “Bloody hell, this is depressing!”. However, music and music writing should be like a mirror, it must be held up to the world to reflect what actually goes on, and in this respect Slaid is completely right to write the way he does. In addition, there are a few more jaunty tracks later on!
Opening with the country rock of the title track, Slaid hits the nail firmly on the head with ‘Still Fighting the War’. This was a track that was four years in writing, it tells the tale of a war veteran and their return to mainstream society, how they can’t get jobs, suffer post traumatic stress, and how that never leaves them: -“ Hard times coming home now, can’t get your feet on the ground/ Got some issues and no one wants you around/ Barely sleeping and you can’t get through to the V.A. on the phone/ No one’s hiring and no one wants to give you a loan/ And everyone else is carrying on just like they’ve always done before/ You’ve been home for a coupla years now buddy, but you’re still fighting the war”.
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The great thing about this is the sensitivity with which Slaid treats a difficult subject without overt sentimentality.
Exactly the same can be said for ‘Rust Belt Fields’. You can almost feel the cold winds of a great depression in this tale about striving against poverty and how the banks and big businesses destroy society: - “Drove into the ground till your factory’s cold then they tear it all down and the parts get sold Come the bankers now pickin’ over the bones. I got three more neighbours now/ ‘Bout to lose their homes... No one remembers your name just for working hard”.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. On ‘God’s Own Yodeller’, Slaid manages a heartfelt tribute to the late Texas country music legend Don Walser, “the Pavarotti of the plains”. Once again this is played and sung with just the right amount of sensitivity and respect that goes to make the track a stand alone classic. Overall, this is the best album I’ve encountered this year in this particular genre, and if there’s any justice it will be a smash.
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