Music Review // Jody Glenham "The Local"

 

Jody Glenham has managed to create a song in "The Local" that is both modern and nostalgic in sound, while also having both a very on the surface type of message and perhaps a deeper one as well.   On "The Local", I am reminded of music from the 1980's and early 1990's right away.   Thoughts of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" enter my head.  But as we get into the dreamy melody of the chorus, the song comes into a modern way like Slothrust or Metric might create.

Throughout the verses there will be lines which just state what the idea of "The Local" is.   From "It's warmest inside a bartender's grip" to "Illusions so grand dilute with time our need to be happy".   The idea of "The Local" is about being in a place where tourists come or perhaps other temporary people (like a college town) and rather than being there for business or pleasure, you just happen to be there.   It just all goes with this idea that if you're ever in a place and you want to find the best local food, ask a local person and that's who this song is about.

As what feels like the chorus comes in near the end though, there are these lines which say "As long as there's people / We'll keep building homes".   This may or may not be intended to be a commentary on the homelessness problem but in the United States (I realize Jody Glenham is Canadian) it is very real.  As someone who is local to a city, you see those without homes and wonder why they cannot afford a place for them to live, and even though the issue is a bit more complex than all of that, there is still this hope within this song that people deserve the basic human right of not being left out in the rain.

I've always been one of those people who wondered why we needed to go other places when there was so much to be done here and so in some ways I guess I am "The Local" in my city.  Whether you are "The Local" yourself or you just find yourself in a place where you need "The Local", Jody Glenham has created a beautiful song with universal messages that I hope resonate with people all around the world.