Plenty of artists have made careers out of wearing their hearts on their sleeve for the benefit of their fans. Baring your soul without an adoring audience on hand is something else entirely; it's rooted in reconciling with yourself rather than showing off your failings to others. Joe Pernice's 2020 solo album Richard doesn't sound like self-therapy, but it does have a very different, more dramatically personal tone than nearly all of his previous work. With the exception of some extra guitar on two songs and a bit of trumpet on another, Richard is just Joe Pernice and his nylon-string acoustic guitar, alone in his basement and singing these songs to himself. Pernice's lyrics often lurk somewhere between self-aware depression and a touch of bitter, witty snark directed at himself and his audience in equal measure. With his songs stripped to their bare frameworks, Richard sounds more confessional and more willing to acknowledge regret, especially on the title track, where he wonders aloud why he didn't come to the aid of the proto-goth outcast he now realizes was a kindred spirit. On his albums with the Pernice Brothers, his genius for chamber pop gives his songs a sweet-and-sour beauty that buffers the bitter aftertaste of the lyrics. Though Pernice's melodies are lovely on Richard, they offer no camouflage, and the effect hits a bullseye in the heart. In the truest sense, Richard deals in the same themes and emotions that have always been prominent in Pernice's music, and the simplicity of the presentation only allows certain facets to be seen with a greater clarity than before. It's hard to imagine that a man who once began a song with the words "I hate my life" would have fans who are seriously averse to a dark night of the soul, so they will only be surprised by the emotional spectrum of Richard. What will be new is the stark, uncluttered impact of these songs, which make a case for Pernice's status as a major songwriter within a new and powerful context. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

1		Starry Crown
2		Sullivan Street
3		Lonely People
4		If We Were Better Friends
5		We Both Know
6		Spend the Mountain
7		Richard
8		Everybody's Baby
9		My Long Black Shadow
10		You Should of Came

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