aaamusic | On 29, Jan 2012

Written with the help of his dedicated fans through PledgeMusic, Thomas Truax brings us Monthly Journal. Not just a follow up full length album, Monthly Journal does exactly what it says on the tin. Written from the experiences of Truax himself, every month came the next instalment of the New Yorker’s life telling tales of romance, dreams, and desires. Everything Truax experienced over the twelve months of last year is added together on one disc to make a compilation album of the previous year; a very unique idea that seems to be working.

Each track does as it hopes, it tells the month’s real time events, the heartbreak of March Winds after the loss of his father, which carries through to Lost Moon in June at the end of his long term relationship. Each track in their own right has enough potential to shatter the hear of most morals which doesn’t really end when Visa force him out of his British home and returning to his native roots in the US.

The action plan the album took, to tell the tale of an artist’s life over the course of the year was unique and an amazing idea at that but it seems as if putting them all together isn’t as easy when it comes to it – each track offers something musically in terms of lyrics and music just like a normal track but the flow between the ‘months’ as such, just isn’t there and the business of a travelling artist trying to make a living from music is evident. It appears as if all focus has gone into telling the story of a month into 3 minutes and the flow between the ‘year’ is lost. The natural rhythm of a year is missing which gives a bit of a letdown where the album is concerned for each stand along track has so much potential.

An eclectic mix across songs that do reflect real life events that more than likely happened to Truax, musically and lyrically Truax has a clear set of potential and the album does have the potential to be amazing. If only the flow between tracks was executed better then maybe this album would be tonnes better.

 

Elly Rewcastle