Always a strong if cryptic lyricist, Farina’s tendency toward sparse vocals was a hallmark of the Karate sound. These days he’s exploring more complex stories with his songs. The writing process for Glorytellers‘ eponymous release is telling: Farina put aside his electric six string and all its accompanying accoutrements in favor of a cheap flamenco guitar. Written in a small cabin in a secluded Italian village, the songs drip with the patience and lackadaisical motility of a seasoned songwriter who has truly found his comfort zone. On this initial offering, Farina explores the concepts of hope and despair through the lives of a series of characters facing adversity in different forms. “Camoflage” tells the story of a teenage mother struggling to make the best of her situation despite the disappointment of her family: “So you only see the ripening wishes / in images of you, with edges slightly turned / The possibilities, like buds on dead branches.” On the decidedly less uplifting “Quarantine,” Farina tells the tale of a town where ravenous patriotism comes back to haunt the townspeople when their children are sent off to war: “The blood, the needles, the piss, you proudly voted for this / now you hang it out your window, pin it on your lapel / the same sanctions at home render your city a tomb / your best intentions gonna turn your little heaven to hell.” Farina has truly come into his own as a storyteller with this debut.
-Oakland L. Childers
Glorytellers: www.geofffarina.com
Southern Records: www.southern.com