Ken Stringfellow has been a force in US alternative music since the late 80s/early 90s, having been frontman with Seattle grunge trio The Posies, collaborator with REM and Big Star, and solo artist in his own right. Born in Hollywood, Stringfellow is also a widely-travelled journeyman producer, with more credits from the producer’s chair than most others in his business.
The solo albums have been spread out, Pink Floyd/Stanley Kubrick-style, since the portentously titled This Sounds Like Goodbye in 1997, through the sublime Danzig In The Moonlight in 2012, to this year’s Circuit Breaker. It’s no exaggeration to say that Circuit Breaker is Stringfellow’s Blood On The Tracks, and the hell-deep screams that punctuate some of its songs, from lead single Trust onwards, speak of a silent torment.
This torment might originate in the fact that this is Stringfellow’s ‘post-#Metoo’ album, his comeback from allegations made by ex-partners in 2022, widely reported in the Seattle press and beyond. These were not dissimilar to allegations made against Marilyn Manson, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, The Bluetones’ Mark Morris, Bright Eyes’ Coner Oberst and Rex Orange County (amongst numerous other less high-profile indie musicians) - but it was becoming clear to the culture-consuming public what #MeToo had really turned into.
Beyond attempts at cancellation, it’s in the nature of the true artist to channel the feelings involved in such events through the work they know so well how to do - and that’s exactly what Stringfellow has done on Circuit Breaker. Trust is followed by If That’s What God Wants, an epic, 70s tinged glam opus of a track, hinting at dark nights of the soul, and eventually being in a position to look forward to the dawn.
Tears Tumblin’, with the rumble and roll of Buffalo Springfield not a million miles away, is in the same pattern of turning trauma into beautiful, melancholic art. The resilient tunes keep coming, through the title track to The Eagles-esque There; the great, late Tom Petty on The Power Out Song (Prettier Than It Looks), and the Heartbreakers legend continues to haunt the channels on album high-point Ghost Me - a catchy, ballsy, fun and yes, AOR radio-friendly country rock gem.
Neil Young’s Harvest/After The Goldrush era is referenced in the exquisitely crafted Don’t Mind The Rain, and is Stringfellow at his observant, loyal best. Our Paradise is Circuit Breaker’s Elton John, Billy Joel, Ben Folds or even Scissor Sisters moment, an old-school Americana barnstormer of a song, sounding like springtime after a long winter.
Ride High plays out the album in rambunctious, Afghan Whigs style, but before that is the truly astonishing Waiting, an experimental soundscape track, featuring punk legend Lydia Lunch, seemingly channelling the Dark Lord himself. Waiting might be the track on Circuit Breaker that directly addresses the allegations made against Stringfellow, and his wry feelings about the fates of those colluding for money or just in order to have something to write about; blithe to the destruction of families and relationships in their eager slurping from the post #MeToo dregs.
‘I went towards the light’, deadpans Ken, ‘A high-stakes drifter...we’re all gonna die’. This astonishing moment of avant-garde existentialism aside, nestling as it does towards the end of the album, Circuit Breaker is the sounds of a boxer getting back in the ring, having discovered hidden depths about himself, realising the things that have always been important, and celebrating them in sound.
Ken Stringfellow is one of (what is known as) alternative music’s best kept secrets; and as with other artists mentioned above, one of the most appallingly treated - by a music industry that has revealed itself to be as callous as any other. But the key word is ‘music’ - Stringfellow knows what he does best, has been doing so for more than 35 years, and Circuit Breaker is his own phoenix machine - cathartic screaming and vocodered demons included.
By Sean Bw Parker
Circuit Breaker can be obtained at the following links:
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