Album Review: Rue Snider 'Broken Window'

-Tara

“Is there anyone among us who’s never lost it?” ponders Rue Snider on the title track of his latest album Broken Window. It’s a question that Snider answers frankly on his deeply personal second solo album which chronicles the singer-songwriter’s alcoholism and journey into sobriety with songs that are both brutally honest and completely human. Via a Folk/Punk/Americana hybrid of melodies featuring fiddle, electric guitar, and organ, the twelve-song collection takes you on Snider’s journey as he is transformed from a man in darkness – destructive and depressed - to one in light, who is self-aware and hopeful.

Recalling the disenchantment of Morrissey, Snider sings in the melodious opening track “Broken Window”: “All you need is love til your heart ends up deadened” while on “Blue Skies and Telephone Polls” he employs some delightful jangly pop to convey his complex struggles. A feisty fiddle with a punk attitude appears on “Blackout” where he acknowledges “Sober only knows what the whiskey couldn’t kill/I don’t know why I always have to drink my fill?”; Snider continues to visit those dark places and indulge in women and drink on the shuffling “Denial” and “Loneliness Is Better Than Heartbreak” where the bluesy guitar and Snider’s vocals make the desolation palpable.

The haunting “You’ll Be Fine” speaks to being broken, codependent...and thirsty, while the sweeping piano accented melody on “Crowd Into Trains” is celestial - almost as if his pain is finally being lifted away. And perhaps it is, as there’s a turn to gratefulness on “Valentines Wish From A Friend”, and an acceptance of love on both the gorgeous ballad “Dive In” and fan favorite “Stories.”

Broken Window closes with the anthemic “Dead Man's Shoes” which portrays a changed man, one who wants to try harder to do better, live every moment, seek joy and die happy. It’s an uplifting ending to the lived experiences of someone who was once broken and is now putting the pieces together and seeing a bright future through the clarity of the shattered glass.

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