When a former (or indeed current) member of any band you like releases a solo record, I always think it’s best to try wherever possible to treat it as a completely separate entity to the band’s output. However, in the case of Jason Lytle, it’s difficult to view his debut effort Yours Truly, the Commuter outside the context of Grandaddy.
The album has all the ingredients you would expect from a Jason Lytle album. It’s bursting with melodies, often masked with fuzziness and occasionally backed up with nice electro touches. His delivery is as woozy and forlorn as ever, which makes it increasingly affecting as he enters his 40s.
On the record’s title track, Lytle leaves us in no doubt about his feelings regarding the recent past, and his hopes for the future: “Last thing I heard I was left for dead… I may be limping/But I’m coming home”. This is a bold statement of defiance, tellingly placed as the album opener. It encapsulates the bruised sense of hope which few people can generate as well as Jason Lytle.
Lytle is at his best when delivering seemingly innocuous lyrics in his most melancholic voice for maximum effect. We see this on ‘Rollin’ Home Alone’ when he sings ‘I bought you something nice/I got you something warm/For when the weather turns’.
Another tearjerker is ’This Song is the Mute Button’ in which he lays ’And I see the pretty in things/But you disappear like a dream/I wish I could laugh now/But I’ll never see you again’ over a simple piano melody. The result is something desolate and beautiful, and probably the saddest point in the album.
Only once does Lytle indulge his space-rock tendencies. And he does so with typical panache on ‘It’s the Weekend’, a short, punchy song which provides a nice little bit of breathing space in the middle of the album.
Having set such high standards at the outset, and lived up to them on a number of occasions later on, it’s perhaps inevitable that the album peters out slightly towards the end. It’s forgivable, too given the lovely moments that Lytle has managed to deliver here. And besides, he is able to leave things on a high note, in the form of ‘Here For Good’, a fragile, piano-led lament.
All told then, Yours Truly, The Commuter is a major success. It’s all very Jason Lytle, but this is by no means a bad thing. It’s heavy on emotion, and packed with ideas. In these uncertain days, there’s something reassuring about the fact that one of indie’s royalty is still able to deliver such a strong piece of work.
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