Review: Strawberry Mansion

If nothing else (and I mean absolutely nothing else), 2020’s dire conditions have led to some pretty damn good music. Langhorne Slim’s new record, Strawberry Mansion, is the latest entry into this COVID album canon, and a worthy one at that.

Slim sets the scene with the first line of the album’s opening song, “Mighty Soul”:

“Someday the world might come and blow your house down // first a tornado then a plague”

Strawberry Mansion, named after Slim’s hometown in Philadelphia, was written at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and after a tornado tore through his current home in Nashville. As if those circumstances weren’t turbulent enough, the singer-songwriter was experiencing a severe case of writer’s block, spurred by a battle with prescription drug addiction in late 2019. As Slim puts it on his website: “Up until this point, I hadn’t finished a song in quite some time. Like many have before and I suppose many will after, I feared I might not write one again.”

In order to force himself out of this rut, Slim retreated within, and used the time spent in the wake of March’s initial pandemic shutdown to get the creative juices flowing once again. Following the recommendation of a close friend, he wrote one song every day, posting many of these living room demos to his Instagram account.

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These “ditties” were the genesis of Strawberry Mansion, a sprawling 19 song double album with three additional bonus tracks (four if you include the demo track/actual album closer “For the Children”). It’s a beautifully sincere record, featuring Slim’s typically personal lyrics. It’s also, in a pleasant twist, unexpectedly upbeat considering both the album’s subject matter and origins. Electric guitars jangle and banjos twiddle throughout, supported by jaunty piano lines and sunny harmonies. The songs jitter from one to the next (the full 22 track collection runs only 51 minutes), wonderfully toeing the line between not overstaying their welcome and not sticking around long enough.

Strawberry Mansion really rolls when it combines Slim’s aforementioned penchant for candidness with his ability to construct a catchy melody. On “Summer Days”, a tune about an impending summer in isolation, he namedrops Wildwood, NJ and the sunburns he got there in his youth. In addition to the tornado and plague he invokes on “Mighty Soul”, Slim calls attention to an anxiety-inducing government. “The Mansion” features a shoutout to his uncles Sid and Jack, who lived “down the street from the house of Coltrane” in Strawberry Mansion, PA. And “Dreams” is a song about waking up and snapping out of something (“I got so tired I nearly expired / but I ain’t got time to be tired no more”), a not-so-subtle allusion to Slim’s battle with addiction and writer’s block.

This specificity, along with Slim’s unique sense of humor, keeps this album feeling optimistic despite some of the darker topics it touches on. For example: “Panic Attack”, one of the best songs Strawberry Mansion has to offer, is about debilitating anxiety and insecurity but culminates with the line “But I know that life’s worth living / It’s the only thing worth living for”. On “No Right Way”, Slim gives some equally excellent advice: “You can paint a crocodile’s lips / And stick your head inside of it / But you’re gonna find out after a while / It’s still a crocodile”. Even “It’s Alright To Hide” is an anthem about making the best of the crappy, lonely situation we’ve all found ourselves in for nearly a year.

If the record has one weakness, it’s that the first half feels much stronger and livelier than the second. Many of the most memorable songs come early, while the album turns a bit more subdued with fewer standouts down the stretch. That’s a minor quibble, as Side B still manages to shine thanks to the harmonies on saloon-style romp “High-Class”, the rollicking “Blood on Yer Lips”, and the intimacy of “Last One Standing”.

Overall though, Strawberry Mansion is a winner. Simultaneously heartfelt, emotional, funny, and introspective, it captures our current moment on a personal level better than some of the absolute upper echelon albums from the past year. At its best, it’s deeply moving music that you can’t help but tap your foot and smile to. As the light at the end of the pandemic’s tunnel grows gradually brighter, I can’t think of a more apt soundtrack to help lead us down that path.

Must Listen Tracks: Mighty Soul, No Right Way, Alright to Hide, Panic Attack, Summer Days, House on Fire, Blood on Yer Lips

ALBUM RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars