Sometimes it seems like singer-songwriters are a dime a dozen. It must be easy to pick up a guitar, strum a few chords and rhyme words about loving this or that, be it a partner, kid, car or cat. Or maybe the subject focuses on the intangibles that make up our days, or the way the rich get richer while the rest of us ricochet through time, reliving happy memories to avoid the unpleasantness of the present.
Then you hear an album like Lisa Bastoni’s On the Water and instantly know better. A song cycle that sports a loose water theme sounds like a mariner’s dream but, here, that translates into a river, tears, the ocean, and beer, not to mention wine, tea and the like, referenced in songs that delve into what makes a life a life. It’s a remarkable set.
“Right Side of the River,” the opening track, sets the stage: “For every bleeding heart on the bank there is a sinking stone/For every little flat rock skipped, somebody’s feeling alone/And it’s so easy to get lost in the undertow/When you’re pulled down deeper than you ever meant to go.” The lyrics flow as if from the page and embrace the aphorism my long-ago poetry professor—a former merchant marine, no less—routinely shared with the class: “Don’t state, create!” She eschews generalities and platitudes, in other words, while honing in on moments that speak to the heart and soul.
“Starlight” is another gem, delving into the “blind luck blessing” that often makes up life and, too, how the things that comforted us years ago rarely do, now—yet, for whatever reason, we refuse to bow to the inevitable: “Yeah, we all spend time grieving/‘Cause someone’s always leaving/But there’s still something to believe in/This much I know.” Just as blind luck delivered us blessings, blind faith will see us through.
“Hometown” celebrates childhood, her best friend and moving on. “Wish It Would Last” does the same. The unfortunate truth is, as those who’ve done so can attest, one can no longer go home again—the “home” in question consists of far more than the house in question. Parents and friends, our own youths—that is the “home” we cherish, what we miss. “Honeymoon in Disneyland” unreels the cinematic journey—and some hard truths—of a young couple heading to Fantasyland. “Let’s Look at Houses” essentially smash cuts years ahead, when the couple passes time by looking at houses they can’t afford.
Bastoni, it should be noted, has been nominated for multiple music awards in her native New England and was honored with the New Folk award at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2019. She recorded the album live over the course of three days with Sean Staples—who also cowrote four of the 12 tracks—in the producer’s chair. (Juliana Hatfield fans may recognize the drummer, Chris Anzalone, as he kept the beat on her recent ELO album.)
Bastoni is also a visual artist whose work can be seen in the above “Let’s Look at Houses” video. It’s that eye for detail that lifts her songs into another realm—well, that and her expressive vocals. On the Water is an album not to be missed. The songs linger longer than the mist over the ocean.
The Old Grey Cat 