Review: ISMAY- 'Half Truth'
Avery Hellman, the creative force behind alt-country project ISMAY, is no stranger to country royalty. The grandchild of the founder of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, Hellman grew up backstage among some of roots music's best. But one of the biggest influences on their songwriting came relatively recently. While researching a documentary on Americana's favorite daughter, Lucinda Williams, Hellman discovered just how much poetry played into Williams' style and began a trip down a rabbit hole that involved poetry writing classes and an invitation to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. The result of this newfound interest in poetry is Half Truth, their newest album, releasing June 12th.
Hellman says that many of the songs on Half Truth started as poems, and it's easy to tell. There's a lyrical depth and flow to the songs on Half Truth that are deeper than ISMAY has ever released before. Throughout the album, Hellman turns their poet's eye to their own mind, exploring themes of letting go, of expectations, of unrealistic dreams, and of drawing nearer, of loved ones and of newer, more nuanced dreams.
Letting go of expectations is the theme of the album's first single, “American Flag.” It starts with the true story of Hellman adopting a wild mustang with plans to have it serve as a flag horse at rodeos. But after a year of working with a trainer, the animal was still too wild to ride, and Hellman had to temper those dreams. At a deeper level, there's a parable about the expectations we put on ourselves and others and what happens when reality intercedes.
On the flip side is the album standout track “I Don't Look at You.” Here, Hellman admits, “I've been worried way too much on politics / And who hates who / And in the final hours of the night / I kiss you wrong / withholding virtue.” They pledge to do better, to look at the worry lines on their own face and the face of their lover as “How much we've changed / since our love began.”
“Torture Either Way” is a trip through mental health that any creative will immediately identify with. Here, Hellman examines the duality of creating art and how not creating is torturous, but so is the act of releasing your creations into the world for everyone to see. “Just sell the damn art,” they yell, after admitting that “each time I compromise / I destroy a part.”
“Problems Galore” is a song that is often humorous on the surface, but it runs much deeper than its surface. The fantasies of the young run to the almost absurd. “This book tells me how / To start my own garden / And like Ina Garten / I could have my own show.” But as the song's protagonist ages, those “problems galore” butt in, and their dreams become more realistic. “I could theorize / A different job or a different size / I'd live satisfied.” There's a, maybe not contentment, but recognition that comes from age, while still looking fondly on those dreams of youth.
Elsewhere, Hellman looks at mental illness through the eyes of a worried sibling (“On the Honest Edge of Being”), finds unlikely meaning in religious iconography (“Jesus Sign”), and explores the dangers of falling too heavily under a con man's spell (“Miracle Cure”). Across Half Truth's eleven tracks, Hellman, producer Sam Cohen (Norah Jones, Kevin Morby), and the crack band that makes up ISMAY bring their best album to date. Their last album, 2024's Desert Pavement, made my year-end favorites list. I think there's a very good chance Half Truth may do the same in 2026.