Americana artist Tim Turophile blends the comfort of timeless musicianship with a twist of original songwriting and character. His new album One More Last Chance dives into a series of introspective and reflective stories, beginning with the upbeat anthem and deeply thoughtful scenes and escapism of Interstate.
We’re instantly guided by a humble but fitting vocal, and the song offers long-form melodic lines, which effectively help carve out an original indie lane for Tim Turophile. The lyrics are genuine, somewhat fearless, and all of these qualities continue to resound throughout the ten-track collection.
One More Last Chance quite cleverly represents the timeless qualities of Americana, whilst always maintaining that level of personality in these mildly unorthodox melodies and vocal inflections. It’s a modest but effective thread of character that elevates the classic style, and this is clear again for the driving ballad Hum Of The Highway, and indeed, for the multi-layered, colourful and quirky Gospel arrangement of I Wanna Be Levon Helm – a bold and beautiful highlight. The style is always familiar, but unpredictable, and that rings loudly throughout Tim’s songs.
We switch to a mellow ballad vibe again, for the piano warmth and consideration of The Difference Between You And Me, with acoustic guitar raising things up afterwards, for the fresh harmonies and unique lullaby-esque tones of Devine.
As ever, Tim’s songwriting achieves a brilliantly unusual balance between the familiar and the unknown. Sometimes a line invites you to make it your own, connect your own stories to it, while the next one instantly redirects things to some deeply personal memory or image from our protagonist.
Striking piano again emerges, to counter the fuller pop-rock sound of Miles Between Us Now, before Leaving Soon adds a blues-rock stomp and piercingly scornful lyrics. Then to contrast the angst and heartbroken regret of this, It’s All Over Now takes things back to the bare essentials of country-folk, the voice intimate and quiet, the acoustic guitar and riding bass-line presenting a shoulder-swaying vibe and an easy-going earworm.
“When you said forever, I thought you meant forever.”
At the penultimate moment, the striking reflective honesty and mellow heartbreak of Virginia is simple but outstanding in its emotional conviction. The stripped-back piano setting compliments the natural nuance and realness of Tim’s voice beautifully, and makes for a perfectly intimate and near-unplugged segue, into the pop-rock bounce and uplift of the driving anthem Dust On Your Chevy.
Great songs, somewhat unusual writing and tunes, but a welcomed variation on the norm. Tim Turophile has truly captured his own style within the Americana and country-folk realm, and One More Last Chance is an enjoyable, diverse, and interesting album to escape into for a while.
Album out July 15th. Find Tim Turophile on Instagram & Facebook.
