It’s hard to believe Ally Kerr could make it more than two decades into his career without an album called ‘True Nature’.
The mercurial spirit has always trucked in an earnest simplicity recalling the wide-eyed soul of Jonathan Donahue, Stuart Murdoch or Jonathan Richman (the latter of which he also shares a certain sartorial resemblance with). Honesty is not something you could ever claim he’s skimping on.
This album is his second self-produced effort and demonstrates an enhanced attention to detail and willingness to throw in the odd orchestral flourish and billowing synth. ‘Back Again’ and ‘Lucky Streak’ are clear statements of purpose, telling of Kerr’s desire to break free of anxious feelings and live life to the fullest. It’s a simple theme, even cliched, but he sells it so well across the album that even the most hardened cynic’s heart will melt just a little.
On ‘Turn And Run’ purposeful percussion finally arrives, propelling the second half forward at a steady clip, despite Kerr barely raising his voice above a whisper. The lyrics concerns an existential fork-in-the-road, but there’s momentum rather than inertia, decisions to be actively made rather than the navel-gazing stasis of the album’s first half (pleasant though it might be). It’s followed by ‘When All I Had Was You’ which is practically a lullaby by comparison, though it picks up in the final minute and leads into ‘Only In This Moment’, Kerr’s version of cacophonous as a choppy cello and duelling keys move towards a crescendo.
The arrangements are beautifully constructed; all understated pianos and elegant strings. Apart from the pitch-shifted chipmunk duet of ‘Lucky Streak’ there’s a velvet uniformity to the production which is the clearest marker of Kerr’s growing talents. He stays mostly on message – the power of positive thinking, to be a tad reductionist – but one of the most intriguing moments comes in ‘King Of Evermore’, where his voice starts to crack at the edges. He references Richman when “that summer feeling” is lost, but he keeps trying to buck himself up with mixed results. There’s a “you” involved, but it plays like a schizophrenic ‘Whole Of The Moon’ and suggests a potentially darker underbelly to Kerr’s writing that is otherwise absent on ‘True Nature’.
The indie-folk-pop veneer hides a surprising depth to Kerr’s work, one that this album occasionally tries to highlight. There are treasures beneath these pretty little ditties, but if you’re just in the market for some well-made, nice music, ‘True Nature’ has you covered.
- Pup/ illuminati hotties / Goo - 12 May 2025
- Mark Eitzel / Beerjacket - 25 April 2025
- Ally Kerr - 25 April 2025