Tip Scarry’s fascinating, compelling emergence as a heartfelt soulful singer/songwriter under his fascinating alter ego Blind Chaperone (also the name of his debut full length album) is all the more impressive considering the intense sonic shift from his sole EP, 2017’s Call Off The Boys, under his own name in 2017. The fuzzy guitar wall of sound washing over and animating each track of that effort obscured both his ample songwriting skills and any sense of him as the intimate and inviting storyteller he has become as Blind Chaperone.
It’s almost as if Scarry was using the distortion to mask vulnerability – as if he wasn’t quite ready to share the depth of his soul and the ample artistry with which he now expresses it. On Blind Chaperone, the still lyrically quirky, but much more accessible multi-talented artist takes us on a hip, sparkling and richly conversational journey with an unforgettable 10 tracks and 40 minutes of off the beaten path bliss.
As he ventures from the clever acoustic talk-sing autobiographical confessional “Online Quiz” - where he tries to remind himself life “doesn’t have to be so deep” - to the dreamy romantic folk plea “Babe,” we should be aware of the album’s colorful back story, which is translated to the cool animation that pops up when we listen to “Online Quiz” on Spotify. Stated simply, these gems were initially inspired by song seeds that took root on a two-month road trip cycling from Boston to L.A. that played a major role in his transition to adulthood.
The collection is the culmination of a ten-year time capsule’s worth of stories, reflecting maturity not only as a vocalist and songwriter but as a producer willing to now use ear-popping sonic intricacies to enhance, rather than obscure, his free-flowing expressions. While the aforementioned opening and closing tunes are pure acoustic grace, he starts the wistfully nostalgic “Hemlock Light” with a minute of synth driven ambience and tension, then colors his thoughtful tree metaphors with a subtle wash of sonic trippiness. Likewise, he includes some circular distorted and bluesy electric guitar notes behind the cynical haunting narrative “All Kinds,” adding some rock punch but never at the expense of clear vocal expression.
Another fascinating aspect of the Blind Chaperone’s creative aesthetic is complementing a swampy, sparsely arranged front porch plea for love like “Come On Now Baby” and the dark, sensually poetic “Salty” (describing the ins and outs of love with images of bloody bit lips and the ocean) with a snazzy, high-energy burst of offbeat social commentary like “Occupation/Revolution.”
My personal favorite is “Can’t You See?” Scarry’s infectiously funky and whimsical ode to childhood memories that finds him artfully contrasting the fear of how the world might unravel with empowering innocent determination: “But if we could gather all the gravel/We might find the breaks/And put the love back into it.” Blind Chaperone is a great coming out party for an artist who’s at last hitting his creative stride, laying a foundation for years of eclectic magic to come.
Comments