Written by John Tierney
The old adage states, you can’t tell a book, or album for that matter, by its cover and by and large that’s true but you sure can get a clue as to what you will find inside sometimes. Nowhere is that more evident than on the cover of The Fragile Balance of Life the deeply personal and beautifully poignant solo album by Single T, AKA Mat Wescott of The Mattydale Music Collective.
The cover image features a opened box full of keepsakes, photos, sonograms, and the occasional tchotchke here and there collected over a lifetime, with a hand holding a pocket watch as if to mark time by the memories contained within.
The album is a musical journey of a path through life starting with the ticking of a grandfather clock that chimes, as if to set the tone and theme of the recording. The clock sound is not intrusive, nor jarring, instead it’s comforting with its mechanical rich sound, like an old clock that you might have heard growing up, when you had all the time in the world.
The first song “A Mother’s Love” reminds us of the first human interaction we even had, the first friend, the first guidance, and how, if you are lucky, you had a mother that nurtured your spirt and helped you grow in the adult you are now.
The songs on The Fragile Balance of Life walk the listener through the various stations of life and ask us to appreciate or at least consider every moment, every milestone we find ourselves reaching. The beautiful “Heart In Hand“ is a marriage proposal , or perhaps more precisely an exchange of vows , featuring Wescott with his wife Nicole’s beautiful harmony.
This is followed up by the cinematic and meditative title track which allows space for some reflection after the very personal and philosophical songs leading up to it.
The heartbreaking “How Will It End” is a bit of a cautionary tale told from the point of view o someone facing the inevitability of their final days and looking back with a regret that can be passed down as a lesson.
The album moves through life with the eventual “A Final Moment in the Sun” that contemplates death and where would one want to be and have achieved in one’s all too short a time in this realm.
Wescott sings the songs with a reflective drawl that sometimes betrays a certain world weariness, and sometimes with a sense of gratitude for life in general. We are let into a bit of a very private journal here, The Fragile Balance of Life is a deeply personal album and if you’re going to put your heart on your sleeve for the world to hear, this is the way to do it.