We review the debut album from Josh Kerr – How Do You Remember Me.
In recent years, Josh Kerr has earned a growing and powerful reputation in Nashville as a writer and producer of huge hits – does Kelsea Ballerini’s ‘Dibs’ ring any bells? With a rapidly growing list of credits including Kelsea Ballerini, Abby Anderson and Danielle Bradbery, he has already carved his name in the Nashville Hall of Fame as a songwriter and producer.
His debut album released on Friday through Black Deer Entertainment is one of the best albums to come out of Nashville in recent years. Period. From heart-wrenchingly pure and emotional ballads to tracks moving with a swaggering funk, the entire album is crammed full of gems and tenderly, delicately crafted from beginning to end. This is an album to buy on vinyl, play on repeat, fall in love with and then fall in love with all over again decades later. For those unfamiliar with Josh Kerr and his songwriting, ignore at your peril. If it’s not obvious yet, we can’t heap enough praise on this body of work.
Opening with title track ‘How Do You Remember Me’ and its nostalgic guitar riff, Josh Kerr breezes in questioning how an ex-love would remember him ‘Is it that red dress you can’t get rid of?’ ‘Is it that first talk in the front seat of my car?’ The song breathes and pauses, allowing moments where the guitar swells back in like waves. The lyrics are instantly relatable. ‘Every good thing about you and me, Is where my mind always goes.’ Kerr exhibits the art of truly magical songwriting – that gift to be able to let any person, regardless of gender, sexuality or background read themselves into the lyrics he so perfectly crafts. The album builds into ‘In Case I Never See You Again’ that has a profoundly more John Mayer-esque feel, though rooted in Nashville and its songwriting. This one is about a meeting with a potential lover, and not wasting time together in case he never sees her again. ‘Figured I’d buy you a drink, figured I wouldn’t let the dance floor go to waste.’ This track swaggers with easy energy and is a far ‘bigger’ track, with crashing drum beats and heavy electric guitar singing through the track. Again, the beauty of Kerr’s craftsmanship is in his ability to ebb and flow the album, providing dynamics not just to the record, but to individual songs, that a way some artists often appear afraid to do. The album quietens a notch for the more funky ‘Still Our Town’ where the guitar and a touch of banjo is allowed to sing in solos. Though a sad theme, about a girl leaving but still being felt in their town, sonically it appears more wistful and nostalgically happy at memories of the past rather than despondent.‘There’s still graffiti on that sign on that back road, and I still mean every word we wrote.’
The first track released from the album was ‘Oklahoma’ that remains a stand-out track from the album. A prolific songwriter in her own right, Morgan is another hugely underrated voice in Nashville, whose debut album ‘Borrowed Heart’ released last year remains one of my personal favourite records of all time. This track is a perfect amalgamation of two incredibly unique voices, and it is little surprise that Sean McConnell has a song-writing credit on this one, a song about losing a person to a place rather than to a person – Oklahoma. The track is full of yearning and emotion and the production is incredibly delicate, particularly with Morgan’s voice. Again, one of the most powerful moments is provided by his use of pause – in the break before the last verse ‘Why does she love you more than me?’ that has the capacity to break hearts. As if this track were not heartbreaking enough, Kerr dives straight into the piano ballad ‘If I’m Being Honest.’ Usually I would shy away from placing two ballads back to back, but part of Kerr’s artistry is in his careful ordering of the album, and here the tone is so different that the track is perfectly placed. ‘If I’m Being Honest’ is potentially my favourite track from the album, where he sings initially about being happy for a lost love to have found a good man and be planning on a wedding, halfway through however Kerr reveals his honest reaction. ‘If I’m being honest, I’m still seeing you in every girl I meet… still reaching over to pull you closer / But you ain’t where you used to be’ and most devastatingly ‘If I’m being honest I could have married you.’ The track speaks for itself. Heart-breaking perfection.
Taking a break from the melancholia, the tempo picks up a notch into ‘It Wasn’t That Long Ago,’ a groovier track about a lover already moving on and the singer thinking ‘one of these days, one of these nights, I’m going to try getting over you.’ The percussion here is more innovative, beginning with clicks, and even a hint of a maraca building in later, along with a good amount of guitar riffs and licks. The tempo lowers to its lowest point for the next track ‘How Do You Know,’ that is a tear jerker. ‘How do you know when to let go of loving someone, when will the pain just go away and I can be numb…. How do I know what I should do when all that I know is how to love you.’ Amy Wadge’s delicate vocals are a stroke of genius here, lifting the track at the points it is exactly needed. It is a marker, if one were needed of Kerr’s production genius alongside his powerful songwriting.
Another stand-out track from the album is ‘Love Me Now,’ a barely touched theme of a man learning his lesson and reflecting on his mistakes, knowing that he has grown enough now to love someone ‘didn’t appreciate you then you probably hate me… in my defence, I didn’t know how, I wish that you could love me now, baby now that I know how. I was a boy trying to love a woman, now I’m a man who knows how to keep a promise.’ The slightly distorted vocal and heavier leading drum beat are what add the magic to this track, whilst also exhibiting the range both emotionally and vocally of Kerr’s voice.
The last three tracks round off the album perfectly – while many albums slow toward the end, this trio act as a perfect adage to Kerr’s talent in production, songwriting and vocally. First up is a gorgeous swelling piano ballad with his fiancee Tae (of Maddie and Tae) that is exquisitely tender and is an almost painfully intimate look into their love and relationship. Next up, is ‘Whole Damn Thing,’ another positive take on love about wanting everything with someone, ‘the good, the bad, the highs, the lows, the in-between.’ The track builds in perfect waves and could have been the final positive note on the record. However, the record ends with ‘The World Didn’t Stop Spinning’ that is the perfect track for anyone going through heartbreak, it is a gorgeous stripped-back piano ballad that is sure to create a spell-binding moment in its live retelling.
From the off it is clear that this debut could only have been written with someone well practised in songwriting, who has notched years of songwriting experience under his belt and who has learned where he wants his place to be musically in Nashville and what he wants to say. The record, simply put is lyrical and artistic beauty – a faultless album that will stand the test of time. Josh Kerr has created a masterpiece.
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Editor’s Picks
How Do You Remember Me
Oklahoma
If I’m Being Honest
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