By Paul T. Mueller
High on Tulsa Heat, the latest from Oklahoma singer-songwriter John Moreland, is not quite as much a one-man-band effort as his breakout 2013 album In the Throes, but it’s still a very personal statement. Like Throes, it’s not always easy to listen to. Moreland says in the liner notes, “This is a record about home. Whatever that is.”
Apparently it’s a place of loneliness, alienation and romantic difficulty. Consider some of the song titles: “Heart’s Too Heavy,” “Sad Baptist Rain,” “Losing Sleep Tonight.” Not a lot of fun there. But it’s a rewarding listen despite the darkness, owing to Moreland’s perceptive lyrics and catchy melodies, supported by his strong singing and playing. This is one former metalhead who knows his way around a nicely picked acoustic guitar and a quiet but heartfelt vocal. “Well, I’m the kind of love it hurts to look at,” he sings in “You Don’t Care for Me Enough to Cry.” “Maybe we should take it as a sign/When I’m strung out on leaving/Exalting all my demons/And you don’t care for me enough to cry.”
As on Throes, Moreland does most of the playing and singing here (and engineering, mixing and producing). But he makes a little more use of collaborators this time out. John Calvin Abney III (guitars and keyboards) and Jared Tyler (Dobro) help out on several tracks, as well as sharing engineering duties. Other contributors include Chris Foster on upright bass, Jesse Aycock on pedal steel, and Kierston White and Camille Harp on vocals.
As to the title, Moreland has said it derives from a song called “High on East Texas Heat” that he wrote years ago about his delirious state of mind after several sleepless nights in the un-air-conditioned home of a friend in East Texas. He dumped the song but kept the title, changing the name of the city to something more appropriate to his native Oklahoma.