My Politic’s new album, Missouri Foklore: Songs & Stories From Home is an immersive look backwards, a celebration of home and finding one’s away. The album’s concentration at home is even more evocative now that Kaston Guffey, one half of the duo, has left Nashville for Pittsburgh. Kaston and Nick Pankey’s voices lilt together with a sound that can only be described as golden: soft, warm, and precious.
Missouri Folklore revolves around nostalgia, nature, weed, and baseball. The album consists of a series of character sketches — some personal, some fictional — all tied together by the inexorable pull of of Missouri. The album leisurely unfurls it’s homey acoustic arrangements, with some clicking in at well over 4 minutes. The shimmering guitars lull one into the summer stupor the songs evoke, but Guffey’s incisive lyrics will jolt you out of it at strategic points. The songs are pleasant, but drug addiction is not.
Thematically, the songs overlap into a gentle spiral, giving depth to the Missouri created in this microcosm. “Maybe It’s Love,” a fond song about a dubious situationship that feels limitless, evokes “Gina & Leroy,” a tale of true love among dwindling options. “What a Life” references a childhood reconsidered while “Driving Home to You” paints a poignant character sketch at the thought of a homerun celebration.
Missouri Folklore perfectly captures life’s ambiguities: the celebration and warmth that are so often tinged with sadness, regret, wondering if things could be different — and moving forward with dignity regardless.