August is a cruel, cruel month.
As a kid, it represented the last vestige of freedom—school started the Wednesday following Labor Day. Too, outdoors fun was often a no-go due to the oppressive heat and humidity unique to the Delaware Valley; you could sweat buckets just while watching TV. As a result, most late mornings and/or early afternoons friends and I slogged our way through the thick air to the rinky-dink Village Mall a mile-plus away from our neighborhood—it was one of few locations where we could hang out in a (somewhat) cool environment without forking over cash to see a movie that didn’t interest us.
Air conditioning at home was a luxury none of us enjoyed.
Late afternoons and/or early evenings were primetime for music listening in my world. The windows in my bedroom stayed open 24/7 during the summer months, storms included. A fan in one inhaled the outside heat while the other two exhaled the sounds reverberating from my Realistic stereo. Neighbors never complained, though my father did whenever he arrived home and heard my chosen platter from near the garage.
Whereas today, some 45 years later, I’m situated in a climate-controlled home that leaves me forever chilled during the summer months. (My wife prefers it cooler than I do.) The stereo’s on, with Sima Cunningham’s High Roller—her first release on Ruination Records—warming the home office. Anyone on the front walk might hear the muffled sounds of her music, but that’s it. For comparison’s sake, whenever the neighbor across the way practices his saxophone, everyone and the deer hear him loud and clear.
Life is good. I’m happy.
Sima Cunningham is not a household name, but she’s likely well known by a subset of music fans. Over the past many years, she’s worked with Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Iron & Wine, Chance the Rapper, Twin Peaks, and plenty more, with her name popping up in the credits of some 30 albums. Her band, Finom, earned many plaudits and was dubbed “the heart of the Chicago music community.” She also co-owns a successful recording studio in Chicago and has produced other artists.
High Roller is essentially a folk-rock outing that veers from light to heavy, often in the course of one song. It finds her stepping into the shoes of family members and friends in order to share their stories. Life is life, of course, and by a certain age many of us have witnessed friends and loved ones struggle. “Your Bones,” which was released as a single in early August, fights the instinct to offer advice in such situations and listen instead. (At least in my experience, that’s really all anyone wants in—to have a sounding board.)
Of course, there are those moments when we want to share our thoughts and fix all that ails the world—even when no one asks. As she sings in the title track, “I could be the golden one/If someone had the common sense to hear me out.” She explains it in a press release as “trying to glean meaning from someone’s ramblings at a bar.” I’ll just say one need not be at a bar to hear my ramblings!
The album ends with the heartfelt and knowing “Adonai,” about a friend who died by suicide during Cunningham’s high school years: “I just want to put it out into the universe/that you are missed so much/The feel of your sweaty palms/And your funny take on songs/I really miss your touch.” It’s a heartfelt ode about how adolescent angst can overwhelm rational thought: “Love is in the nuances we know/It’s easy to imagine we’re alone.” It’s a tremendous, insightful end to what is a tremendous, insightful album.
The Old Grey Cat 