Whenever I listen to a Kurt Vile album, I am reminded of a line from his song ""Slow Talkers."" He makes the small complaint, ""Everyone I know / Talks to me way too slow / I lose track of what they say / Before they walk away."" The line sounds almost like a premonition in light of his musical career, because, ironically, Vile doesn't seem to heed his own criticism. It was this slow-talker line of reasoning that plagued his almost-impressive major label debut Childish Prodigy. That album, despite being filled with harrowing chord progressions and hook-filled vocal melodies, was elongated to the point that listeners reached for the next button before each song had reached its intended end.
Smoke Ring for my Halo is stronger-sounding than Prodigy, but like Prodigy is a slow simmer of an album. It is also a much more personal affair than Vile's previous work, housing songs less interested in furrow-browed life observations than in Vile turning inward, openly meditating on his feelings. ""Baby's Arms"" opens the album, a sweetly sung number about Vile shying away from public attention, but shows Vile is comfortable in displaying his own vulnerability. ""On Tour"" works in similar vein, with reflecting guitars humming behind Vile's wistful incantations about life on the road.
For all his self-exposure, Vile still makes time to put on a rock n' roll front. ""Puppet to the Man"" sounds more like Vile's other version of himself, a weary-eyed meditator on the human condition that delivers his messages with a cool, cockeyed confidence. Vile displays a similar swagger on ""Society is my Friend,"" in which Vile exclaims ""Society is my friend/He makes me lie down in a cool bloodbath."" But while Vile projects this attitude of rock n' roll machismo, they don't sound convincing in context of the album's dominant, introspective tone.
""Jesus Fever"" provides the best example of Vile's merits and his shortcomings as a songwriter. The song dons a foot-tappingly catchy chord progression that any pop musician would salivate over, but then repeats it several times over without ever shifting the songs register. The melody lingers and draws attention to itself until it has worn out its stay.
No one who hears ""Jesus Fever"" or any of Vile's songs would doubt that Vile has an excellent ear for melody, and has any difficulty writing a catchy pair of notes. This is why we forgive him. But good taste and a good ideas are only half the battle in crafting a genuinely good song, let alone a great album. For nearly every one of his songs, Vile shows his hand in the first minute, and it leaves no room for unpredictability or tension building.
Like many others in the music community, I've been proselytizing Kurt Vile's potential for greatness for about three years now, ever since I heard the disjointed melodicism of ""My Sympathy"" and the lust for life energy of ""Freeway Mind."" But three years and two albums later Vile has yet to make good on the promise sketched out in those couple of songs. While Smoke Ring for my Halo is Vile's most comprehensive record to date, featuring enough hooks to make an incredible showcase as an Amazon listening preview, it only goes so far as showcasing Vile's potentials as a great songwriter, but one in desperate need of an editor.
