The Melancholy Season counts as Benmont Tench’s second solo album. His first (You Should Be So Lucky) was released 11 years ago. Tench spent 50 years as the original keyboardist in Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
Jonathan Wilson, an acclaimed singer-songwriter as well as Roger Waters’ live guitarist, produced The Melancholy Season. Wilson’s other credits include Father John Misty, Margo Price and Roy Harper among others. Tench’s studio band features Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith on guitar, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg on bass, Wilson plays drums and guitars, and Jenny O and Sara Watkins also contribute to the sessions. The Melancholy Season contains thirteen low-key, reflective songs Tench wrote.
On the title track Tench sings: “What would I give to turn the track/Of time to match our traces/Orion cries out from the black/The melancholy season is upon us.” “If She Knew” pulls the heartstrings in a universal way that could apply to a daughter, sister, mother, or lover emerging as a stand-out track. “Under The Starlight” is a midnight lullaby where Tench sings: “No nothing can hurt you/And nothing can help you/Under the starlight/That cradles us all.” Tench plays a Steinway piano and Hammond organ throughout The Melancholy Season.
It’s almost like Tench penned a note for a ghost on “You, Again”. The final track, “Dallas”, resembles a Townes Van Zandt song, and reiterates why Tom Petty always praised Tench’s vast talent. The Melancholy Season sounds like a sad farewell as you look through old photographs of a dearly departed friend.
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