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Jan 05, 2015 Songs: Ohia By Ryan E.C. Hamm

Jason Molina’s desperate caterwaul of a voice may have never found a better home than the Rust Belt folk he produced on 2002’s Didn’t It Rain. “No matter how dark the storm gets overhead/They say someone’s watching from the calm at the edge/What about us when we’re down here in it?” Molina sings in the opening title track. It might as well be a mission statement—lots of good folks are working hard in these dying towns and cities, and while the hope of saving them is out there, it doesn’t always ease the pain of life.

The remainder of Didn’t It Rain‘s seven tracks explore the same themes: sad Midwestern ruminations, elegies for the great working class cities and their inhabitants. The only betrayal of the bleakness is the sheer beauty of the music.

This deluxe reissue mostly serves to illustrate how fully formed the songs were in Molina’s head before recording—and how little a studio mattered aside from helping Molina get the best take and provide some excellent backing vocals. The bare-bones demos showcase Molina’s lyrics and haunted outlook, serving as a sobering reminder of how much talent was lost when he passed away. (www.content.jasonmolina.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10