“Joel Roberts” is a song I didn’t like, until I loved it. The first time I heard it some months ago I bounced right off it. But after a while I went back, then back again. By the end of the day, I was texting it to my friends with a ‘hear me out’.
Truman Sinclair has a story to tell about killing a man who was assaulting his unnamed goddaughter:
Her old man John Carter
Fought hard for the good of his brother
Got home but he lost his leg
Lost her got lost in the keg
He called me and I gave him my blessing
And he died in a final confessing
“All my baby has now is you”
So I raised her up tall and true
The delivery is a little unsure, with lines like “I know I’m sayin’ too much / I’m not good at this kind of stuff” featuring a Conor Oberst-ish wobble, and the song sounds like a modern Americana riff on an obscure outlaw country song.
Sinclair doesn’t look like an outlaw, but he writes songs like one. “Joel Roberts” is the first of four singles Sinclair has released in the runup to his debut album, released February 14. If the description so far seems superlative, it’ll be outdone by Sinclair himself: he’s named the record American Recordings, evoking one of the greatest outlaw songwriters of all time. Those are big shoes to fill, but if “Joel Roberts” is an indicator, Sinclair is on the right track.
The second single, “Black Train”, which is closer in spirit to a folk song, with lyrics about climate change and capitalism:
Last week the final singles “Chicago Flood” and “What’s On Your Mind?” were released, and they have the same slow-growing characteristics that the prior ones do. “Chicago Flood” has the same confessional-style lyrics that connect so strongly on “Joel Roberts”:
I cried yeah I spilled my own blood
On the night of the Chicago flood
I don’t know why I saved my own life
Guess I had too dull a knife
American Recordings is his first LP, but it follows a couple of EPs that track that share the same evocative and personal songwriting as these songs. Here’s “Stuck” from 2024 EP Pale Moon Pale Horse:
Prior EP, Friends & Family & Enemies from 2023, has a richer and more mainstream Americana sound to it, closer to Counting Crows than Johnny Cash. This is Sinclairs musical transition: he also fronts punk/emo band Frat Mouse – releasing four albums to date and touring extensively, with an absolute gem of a website.
There doesn’t seem to be a ton else online about Sinclair. American Recordings is likely to attract attention for the name alone, and the strength of the four singles so far suggest it might be one of the first great records of 2025.
