The sense of depth on display from Mauri Dark’s debut album is immediate from the moment the opening track “Poison Woman” begins, with Dark’s grizzly baritone decreeing “One is less than two when two become one; I am half a man since you came along.” Far from subtle, sure, but the upfront nature is something much needed from a man so beyond the passive-aggressive attitude he has seemingly been handed by the song’s subject. Starting the album on such a dour declaration paints a grim picture of the songwriter’s perspective, but the background behind such songs on the album will have audiences in total understanding as to why the appropriately named Dark has taken such stances within his art.
URL: https://www.mauridark.com/
Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man has been a long time coming; Dark is quoted as saying “The songs and lyrics were made amidst the changes of breaking up from a 7-year relationship, my mother’s death of cancer, and finding happiness again, getting married, having a firstborn daughter and making music.” Once you’re aware of the massive scope that the album is containing within its ten songs and forty minutes, there’s something all the more undeniable in Dark’s provocative lyrics and classic heavier, country aspirations.
With “Worst Enemy,” listeners are treated to a song that feels out of a studio session from the likes of Johnny Cash or Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Unsurprisingly, the influence is intentional as the album’s mastering engineer, Vlado Meller, has previously mastered albums for Johnny Cash (as well as indie acts such as Metallica and Michael Jackson.) The artistry brought to the table for Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man feels unparalleled and all its own, as the influences teeter on feeling entirely obvious without ever coming across as derivative. There’s a heart and soul that works as an electric current through the album’s entirety that isn’t something you can just decide to wear; each song feels like a branded mark earned from Dark’s own life.
As Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man does, for all intents and purposes, function as a solo debut, there’s an incredible amount of experience, both in life and the music industry, attached to each song. Part of this undoubtedly comes from Mauri Dark’s background in music, with eight albums and five hundred shows across twenty-five years, all in a variety of bands and genres. The legacy of someone as established and confident as Dark will certainly last a good long while, even without a solo career, but releasing something as boldly reinventive as Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man will make for something truly personal within his discography.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dreams-of-a-middle-aged-man/1535902168?i=1535902173
The title track closes the album out and sends listeners back out into the world with undeniably softer skin. “Once I dreamed I’m gonna be a rock n’ roll star, stand with my band on stage and play the guitar, but a thousand gigs later in the backstage of a stinking bar, I still loved music but wondered what my true dreams are.” There’s a great sense of reckoning and vulnerability that is inescapable, and Mauri Dark isn’t running from his future anymore. He’s found happiness where he least expected it, and the humor that family life has given him is a gift well worth spreading with the help of his solo debut.
Chadwick Easton