Review: Willie Nile- 'The Great Yellow Light'
Willie Nile has been serving up energetic garage rock since 1980, and the 77-year-old troubadour doesn't seem to have any intention of slowing down. On his 21st LP, The Great Yellow Light, he delivers a set of ten songs that range widely from raucous punk rock anthems to folksy ballads.
The title of Nile's album came from a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother about the light that inspired him in Arles, France, where he lived. For the album, Nile co-produced with longtime collaborator and Grammy winner Stewart Lerman (Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Sharon Van Etten). Nile was also joined in the studio by his core band, Jimi Bones on guitar, Johnny Pisano on bass, and Jon Weber on drums. Working with such familiar faces in the studio gives The Great Yellow Light a tightness that might not be present otherwise. From one to ten, every song is expertly assembled.
The album's highlight track is also its most topical: “Wake Up America.” Nile calls it “a call to our better angels. Even though the history of America is riddled with pain and injustice, and the divisions between us are greater than ever, I refuse to give in.” Joining Nile on “Wake Up America” is a man who knows a thing or two about social messaging: roots music troubadour Steve Earle. Earle's time-worn voice cuts through lines like “where you going to be on judgment day?” like butter.
On the other side of the social commentary spectrum is Nile's cover of The Hooters' “Washington's Day.” Nile co-wrote the track with The Hooters' Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian, and the band included it on their 1987 album One Way Home. Hyman and Bazilian join Nile on this rendition of it, bringing a song that is more topical than even it was in 1987, full circle.
But it's not all serious political and social commentary on The Great Yellow Light. Nile has fun on several tracks. “Tryin' to Make a Livin' in the USA” is a humorous look at the record industry and Nile's dreams of “the boys on Music Row making me a star!” “Electrify Me” is a punk-tinged slab of guitar garage rock that could make even the most stoic of listeners strum their air guitars. “We Are, We Are” is another rocker with a sing-along chorus that makes it one of the album's more fun tracks to belt out in the car.
On “An Irish Goodbye,” Nile turns it down a notch and gets some help from Irish music icon Paul Brady. More of a gentle roll than a rebel yell, you can almost see Nile, Brady, and their friends holding up a pint and swaying along as they sing along to “Here's fire in your whiskey / here's mud in your eye.”
By now, there's no surprise in a great Willie Nile release. He's been on a run of great albums in recent years, and they only seem to be getting better. If you like old school garage rock and roll in the middle ground between “Dylan goes electric” and the blue collar anthems of Bruce Springsteen (himself an avowed Nile fan), then The Great Yellow Light is an album you're going to want to own.