Hank Harris has some of the qualities of a Renaissance man. He’s an excellent singer/songwriter with a command over several musical idioms such as blues, folk, and rock. Harris is also a top-notch writer able to dissect complex adult themes in comprehensible ways for listeners. He’s a talented photographer too. The strong visual sense driving that facet of his talents enhances his songwriting prowess.
His latest release Beautiful Planet doesn’t play with trivialities. The South Dakota-based singer/songwriter tackles the state of the world today and his past experiences with a skeptical, if not jaded, eye. However, he’s wise enough to marry his sometimes rueful reflections on life’s disappointments with appealing musicality that never leaves the audience morose. Each of the eleven performances included on Harris’ Beautiful Planet makes an important statement without losing sight of his mandate to entertain listeners.
“Modern Medicine” begins the recording by recounting Harris’ brush with doctors about a needed surgery. The songwriter paints his frustration in restrained language that nevertheless does a superb job of conveying the situation’s distressing absurdity. He couples it together with an improbably mellow arrangement replete with occasional backing vocals that bring added smoothness to his own relaxed and inviting singing. It is a song that, like many other Harris tracks, beckons us to share the artist’s experience.
The album’s title track is one of the collection’s peak moments. Anyone expecting a musical idyll about the joys of life on this third stone from the sun will be disappointed. Instead, “Beautiful Planet” is a well-aimed screed about the assorted drawbacks and plagues set upon the human race, largely of our own making, that undermine our world and its potential. Harris continues following the template set up by the opener. The song pairs a warm and layered arrangement with its dire lyrical content.
“So Sweet” is a highly texturized and moody piece. The song’s bass playing tastefully punctuates interweaving electric and acoustic guitar threads. However, Harris’ voice strikes a curious balance between recalling the late Jerry Garcia and Paul Simon. Victories in Hank Harris songs are always hard-won and “So Sweet” celebrates those temporary lights in an otherwise darkened world. “Love is Not Enough” continues exploring the same pessimistic outlook that characterizes other tracks on Beautiful Planet. Listeners can remain heartened that Harris even acknowledges the persistence of love in an otherwise bleak landscape, but circumstances have jaded him. However, tenderness stays, and he conveys that virtue effectively throughout “Love is Not Enough”.
A sheet of keyboards opens “11 Time Zones East” before acoustic guitar, light percussion, and bass join the arrangement. It has a much more theatrical bent than the accompanying material. The world-weariness rife in Harris’ vocal phrasing compliments another darkly poetic meditation on life’s damage. The finale “That’s When I Think of You” has late-night jazzy inclinations. Harris’ lightly tattered vocal tone fits this delicately poetic and brilliantly detailed closer. His new album Beautiful Planet has a sly, nearly insidious, effect on listeners. It demands multiple listens to appreciate it in full. However, give it time, and it weaves an undeniable spell.
Mindy McCall
