Noah Earle's Latest Lacks Spark

NOAH EARLE
This is the Jubilee
MayApple Records 0224
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Ever listen to a record that just didn’t grab you, stash it away, pick it up months later, listen again, remember all the songs, and have exactly the same reaction you did the first time? That’s my take on Noah Earle’s latest. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the record and it’s miles from being a bad effort. At the end of the day, though, there’s just not enough spark to kindle any kind of fire. There are too many mid-tempo songs, there aren’t any meaty instrumental licks, and the most-memorable melody is “Pinche Güera,” which is in Spanish so most of us can’t even sing along. The central idea of the songs is redemption—wrongs made right, but not quite square on the ledger sheet. Alas, it’s also a metaphor for my disinterest in the record; like its theme This is the Jubilee is a ‘tweener’ that lacks a discernible identity lyrically, thematically, or musically. It begs a question. What if the jubilee came, we were told we’ve been saved, and all we can think of to say is: “From what?”