Instrumentally speaking, Larry Jay’s new EP Written in Whiskey isn’t treading any water that long-term country music fans aren’t used to, but this just might be the record’s most endearing point of intrigue. Rather than trying to dig into new ground, Larry Jay is taking the aesthetics of the old guard and repurposing them for his storytelling, which is something a lot of his peers neither have the ability nor the ambition to do well. The country music community is enjoying a lot of magic coming out of the underground right now, and this EP serves as a true nugget in my book.
There is no overarching concept to the tracklist in Written in Whiskey, but instead an easygoing lust for melodies that extends itself from the powered string play of “Bad Ass Beautiful” to the balladic undertow of “Saving Lives” without missing a beat.
To me, Jay’s love of this medium ends up taking a lot more of our attention than the material does on its own, which compensates for the undisputable simplicity of the arrangements here. This guy just doesn’t need the fireworks – he’s already packing a lot of heat with the organic harmonies he forms in “Blood” or the title track.
Country fans cannot go wrong with what Larry Jay is cooking up right now, and although he’s got a lot of competition coming his way from virtually all sides of his scene in Cali, this record has the weight of something far more significant than the conventional EP can account for. Written in Whiskey plunges into the soul of its creator but doesn’t reveal too much of his persona to dampen the mystique behind the lyrics. This is someone hardcore country lovers will want to get to know, and this EP is the place the start.
Heather Savage
