Music Review - `Rope The Wind` by Nick Justice (dmac)
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Nick Justice - Rope the Wind (click on image to watch video)
30 March 2021
Nick Justice sings these eleven songs on Rope The Wind a little bit like a cowboy Chris Isaak. Sonically, Justice’s music is straight forward Americana-based, with plenty of twangy, country- leaning guitars. His music’s Isaak’s comparison is due to that cry in Justice’s voice whenever he sings. Because of this, everything on Rope The Wind comes out just a little bit sad.
The album opens with a personal cry for free-spiritedness, called “Traveling Man.” Toward the album’s center section, however, Justice sings a couple of story songs. One is titled “Run Away,” and is about a Bonnie and Clyde-like couple with “Trouble on their minds/And a lot of time to spare.” As we all know, the devil will find work for idle hands to do. The very next song is the true story of an American outlaw, “Billy The Kid.” There are hard partying country singers these days that refer to themselves as modern day outlaws. Justice, however, writes and sings songs about actual outlaws on this album.
One of the album’s most intriguing songs is called “Rhymes And Reason.” For it, Justice strings together a series of childhood rhymes, and somehow transforms these familiar phrases into an interesting song. The track features plenty of tasty slide guitar, and even banjo underpinning it. It’s a little bit like a Bob Dylan song, in that Justice sings enticing words and it’s up to us (the listeners) to figure out what it all means. The album’s title cut is a slow, throbbing, bass-driven track. Lyrically, it’s an invitation from one man to one girl. “Take a little ride with me/To the other side.” Is he tempting her to step out and into the wild side of life? It sure sounds like it.
There’s plenty of mystery in Nick Justice’s songs, which makes Rope The Wind one Pandora’s Box of an album to explore.
Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com.
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