Music Review // Tripi "Close to Fire: Roman's Anthology Release Part I"

  When you begin an album with the song "Charlie's Song", which was released <as a single>, you set the tone for an album to follow with songs about people who have lost their children.  I'm going to give you this warning right now: this album is sad.  Not like blues-sad, even though a lot of these songs come out in that bluesy way, but they're sad-sad.  It is to that extent of where if you're going to put this one on at work or somewhere else where maybe you don't want to be openly weeping in public, maybe save this for home listening instead.

Perhaps the best example of this sad song is "Ronan" which has guest vocals by Emily Grove.  It's a song about a child she just wants to see again and wonders how they would dress for Halloween.  There is a lyric that will break you which simply says: "You were my best four years".  Even if you don't have children, even if you don't have pets, you have to at least think about this song in relation to all of the kids dying in school shootings.  No child should have that chance to grow up and experience being an adult taken away from them.

There is a cover of "Tears In Heaven" on here, which is very much piano-based, and the album ends with a cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" featuring guest vocals by Jessie Wagner.   This album does have quite a few features on the songs, but it makes the overall experience more special.  This doesn't feel like one person expressing their grief- it feels like an entire support group.  If this is something that you need, then put it on and listen because you shall find comfort in it.

While this album can maintain an overall vibe somewhat like The Wallflowers musically, there are also elements of artists such as Tom Petty and even Creed, so if you're looking for those Roadhouse type of rocking blues you can find that on some of these songs for sure.  It's just that those vibes come with a song like "Come to Poppa", which comes after "Ronan" and so you're not getting hit repeatedly with sad songs but there are still sad songs on here, some of the saddest songs I have ever heard.