Micah P. Hinson - And The Red Empire Orchestra

MICAH P. HINSON
Micah P. Hinson And The Red Empire Orchestra

American troubadour Micah P. Hinson has had his share of problems in the past. The Texan was a teenage drug addict who found himself penniless and homeless after a stint in jail for forging prescriptions. However, in spite of these troubles, or perhaps because of them, Hinson, now 27, crafted two albums of earthy and heart-felt American folk and now returns with a third outing.

Pleasingly, the album takes a similar tone to his previous offerings. His are sombre songs of yearning and solitude which offer the faintest cracks of light in them, giving them an unlikely yet beguiling sense of romance. Scratchy opening track Come Home Quickly, Darlin’ sums up his sound perfectly, with simple lyrics delivered over piano and guitar, while a slightly more ambitious side to him can be heard in I Keep Havin’ These Dreams, which is drenched in orchestral magnificence. All the while his vocal is gravelly yet warm, turning each of his compositions into tender lullabies. Sunrise Over The Olympic Mons is a good example of this, with Hinson gently humming: “Oh love of my life” over and over.

Plenty has been made of Micah P. Hinson’s tumultuous past, but this man’s unquestionable talent is such that it can stand alone without the need for an eye-catching back story and, excitingly, And The Red Empire Orchestra represents his best work to date. Considering the quality of his previous two recordings, that in itself is quite an achievement.