Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming
By Mairi Small
Long Time Coming is an aptly named album. Singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell spent years busking and travelling around the US developing her own kind of country music and captivating listeners. But her journey to a debut album is a modern one. In the past, a few performances of her original songs went viral on Americana YouTube channels (such as Gems on VHS and Western AF) and word of her talent spread through online comment sections as well as real-life gigs. She had great presence and catchy, well-written songs; above all, she simply had one of those voices: singular and timeless. She seemed to be the real deal, one of several new American musicians said to be at once returning country music to its roots and reinventing it, giving it a new spontaneity and scratchiness, a punk ethos- and above all, an authenticity. Long Time Coming was released this August; over three years since some of her most popular online performances. The expectations were high.
It’s unfair to hold a musician to the standards of performances from so long ago when both she and her music will have evolved in that time. It’s unfair, but it’s inevitable. And for many, Long Time Coming did not live up to the hopes they had. But it probably never could. The urgent melodies plucked along the bass strings of her guitar and her undoctored voice have been replaced by a bed of accompanying instruments and clean production. And it’s good. There is a lovely range of instruments on this album, all working together well; the long instrumental sections pass the melody from electric to acoustic, violin to double bass, slide guitar to saw. There’s a warmth to the music, even a generosity as no instrument or voice hogs any song. But that’s the thing: Ferrell’s voice could have hogged the songs - it is more than strong enough for it. While its gravelly quality and distinct tone is still there, the overused reverb and the sheer amount of other instruments, at times, dampens what can be immensely charismatic vocals.
This is not to call the album bland, or to suggest that, with higher levels of production in a Nashville studio, Ferrell has somehow moved into mainstream country. In fact, Long Time Coming is by no means strictly country, with notes of bluegrass, gypsy jazz, and even surfer rock all featuring. There is certainly a lot of inspiration drawn from older music, primarily older country and jazz, with the track ‘At the End of the Rainbow’ bursting from upbeat bluegrass to a slower jazz standard style. Ferrell has a great talent for channeling older sounds in a way that is far from staid. This is not an album of nostalgia; many songs sound at once like they could have been passed down from generations or written today.
Lyrically, things also seem traditional, with many tales of lost love. However, Ferrell has a flair for interesting and often humorous images that flesh out the songs, such as the line:
“You say the women in this town, they’re just like gold / from where I’m standing they spend it up their nose”.
There is a playfulness to the album, and that’s one of its most winning elements. But there is real emotion too. The opening tracks, ‘The Sea’ and ‘Jeremiah’ move us from a snaking, minor song that winks at the listener to an understated story of infidelity that delivers its impact in the simplest of observations- the command for the titular character not to leave his wedding ring “in the pocket of your blue jeans.” ‘In Dreams’ is lyrically one of the best on the album, with its pairing of love and death and the chorus’ demand to “take me with you now before I’m one”.
In terms of the emotional tone of each track, the flow of the album works well. But I often felt that the songs were too crowded, too flurrying, and that- as nice as all of the instruments were- they just didn’t always need to be there. Slower track ‘West Virginia Waltz’ remains an album highlight. As a piece of songwriting, it is near perfect in its narrative and melody. It tells the story of returning to a former love after years of “rambling”, only to find he has passed away. It’s the sparsity of the song that is devastating, and, because of this, I am unsure about the production- especially the bombastic ending, with its driving electric guitar and grand cymbals. It is affecting, but ultimately unnecessary. The chorus line: “the last time I saw him, we did the West Virginia Waltz” gains enough meaning and transformation from the preceding verses that all the extra elements seem to dilute the impact, demanding an emotional response that was already there. But I am, again, comparing the studio version to an earlier video of live performance, which might be unfair . The live version was one thing; the album has a new interpretation. Why not enjoy both?
It’s a trap for the artist, and a tale very often repeated. In moving to a record deal and the reach that fans swore she deserved, Ferrell is, of course, seen to lose some of that precious authenticity- perhaps even to ‘sell out’. I don’t think she is selling out. The tracks, new and old, on Long Time Coming are creative and often subtle blends of a range of musical periods and genres. It is an album that grows on you, and it most definitely shows potential. Subjectively, the tracks do not feel as fresh as the performances I have rewatched and clung to and sealed away in YouTube playlists until they gathered dust. But the issue of authenticity is particularly fraught in country music which is famously made up of “three chords and the truth”. Especially when compared with the country charts, endlessly mocked for their artificial rolling-out of trucks and beer and girls, a musician like Ferrell’s apparent truthfulness becomes all the more precious- and all the more to be fiercely guarded.
Overall, both Long Time Coming and Ferrell’s online performances are well worth looking into. Regardless of the arguments around authenticity and genre, she remains a unique talent and a tremendous songwriter with a haunting voice.