Allison Russell
In the Hour of Chaos
FANTASY
You probably know the old cliché about artists having a lifetime to write their first album, then just a year to crank out their second. Luminous songwriter Allison Russell has dealt with an acute variation of it: A harrowing childhood—including seasons of living as a runaway on the streets of Montreal—made her first pair of albums uniquely powerful, courageous acts of memoir. But it was always hard not to wonder what kind of story she’d tell next. Her third album is called In the Hour of Chaos, its title suggesting Russell’s new direction. Following a couple of albums chronicling personal trauma, she’s now documenting the trauma we all share. Though her lyrics never directly acknowledge specific sources of political, cultural, or economic turmoil, the album was clearly written in the pressure cooker of Trump’s America, gesturing frequently to darkness without and within.
But the biggest shift isn’t from the personal to the collective; it’s the intentional move toward a brighter sound and a cheerier mood. Russell designed the album as a testament to the buoying effects of community, to the extent that she only sings two songs on her own. On the rest, she tag-teams verses with a full roster of featured performers, many of them women of color: Joy Oladokun, Brittney Spencer, Devon Gilfillian, and Norah Jones are just a few standouts. There’s no question that the group sing-along dynamic is irrepressible, especially when combined with the open-hearted acoustic strumming and candy-coated keyboard tones that anchor the album’s sound. It’s a continuation of the dance/folk amalgam Russell experimented with on 2023’s vibrant The Returner, only here, all the good cheer can become cloying: the shiny surfaces are friction-free, the smiles a little bit forced. Representative of the album is “Cold April,” its title signifying T.S. Eliot while its lyrics reference Prince. The chiming “Hey Ya” keyboard refrain and children’s choir accompaniment are overwhelming in their primary-colored sweetness.
The lyrics, too, are written for inspiration and uplift. Russell once again penned the album with JT Nero, her husband and longtime musical partner dating back to their all-too-short-lived band Birds of Chicago, and while there are some smart pop sensibilities here, the dogged positivity scans as overly therapeutic. “Magic’s only magic if you believe it,” sings Russell on the opening “Rainbows.” And, from “Cold April”: “Even when you feel your whole world is crumbling / You’re still gonna try and soothe somebody else.” These are earnest sentiments, conveying an optimistic humanism that, given the context of Russell’s first two albums, feels hard-won. Taken in a vacuum, they give In the Hour of Chaos the feel of an extended pep talk. God knows a lot of us could use one of those right now, but Russell has written sharper and stronger stuff than this before. The longer this pep talk goes on, the harder it is to feel fully persuaded by it.
