Birds of Chicago Archives

Allison Russell has followed up her outstanding solo debut album Outside Child (2021), showing no sophomore slump, taking us to new heights with the wonderful album The Returner (2023). In her solo work, she continues to explore what makes us human, facing trauma, and finding ourselves.

American Songwriter summarizes the new album as “a 10-song collection woven together with surprise, gratitude, pain and musical beauty the world has never quite seen before.” Ken Tucker of NPR explains that while Outside Child made “stirring music out of the harrowing details of Russell’s youth as a survivor of sexual abuse and homelessness,” The Returner features “songs about a more uplifting adulthood.” While there is some truth to that album comparison, it may be a little simplistic to draw a sharp line between the two albums that way. Both albums convey struggles and strengths that are not often encountered with such poetry and grace in pop music.

Regarding the title track of the album, Allison Russell creates music that sounds like a lost classic from the 1960s. When I first played the song, I felt like I had heard it many times, and I had to stop everything so my ears could give it my full attention. And then once you pay attention to the lyrics, you realize this song is really something special.

“The Returner” is about turning over a new leaf and finding a better and stronger person within yourself, despite the struggles and pain you’ve been through. It’s as inspiring as “We Will Rock You” or the theme from “Rocky,” with this fighter taking on something larger and darker and coming out on the other side.

In “The Returner,” the singer proclaims one of the most life-affirming things one may say: “I’m worthy.” But she is not keeping the newfound worthiness and strength for just herself; she aims to spread the power and the love to everyone she can. And that is what Russell does with these songs.

Goodbye, so long, farewell, all I’ve been;
Ooh, oblivion,
Throw me in the ocean,
Ooh, see if I can swim;
I’m wild again, I’m a star child again;
I’ve come ten million miles, ooh, I’m burning;
I’m a summer dream, I’m a real light beam, I’m worthy
Of all the goodness and the love that the world’s gonna give to me;
I’m a give it back ten times, people, are you ready?
If you think you’re alone, hold on, I’m coming.

Check out “The Returner” from Allison Russell.

Russell incorporates different genres in her music, including elements from Americana, R&B, Country, Soul, and Folk. Even the lyrics to “The Returner” show her broad embrace of music, referencing jazz great John Coltrane and country legends the Carter Family in the same sentence: “I can’t think of a thing / That hasn’t been born of a dream / Like a love supreme / Like a circle unbroken.” Another example of the lack of limits on her music is that musicians on the album include Americana artist Brandi Carlile and Wendy & Lisa (Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman). The latter are known for their work with Prince in the 1980s.

As one may note from the results, Russell is not aiming to make ordinary music. Russell, who before these two albums was in Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters, highlights on the liner notes the importance of the studio where she recorded The Returner. She recorded the album in the same studio as Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Carole King’s Tapestry, two of the greatest singer-songwriter albums of all time. With such artists, Russell continues to carve out a significant place among the stars.

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One of the outstanding songs of 2021 is Allison Russell’s “Nightflyer.” During some of the dark days of the pandemic, it was a comforting and powerful song of confronting dark days and going forward.

Allison Russell, who is French Canadian and lives in Nashville, released the album Outside Child, which includes “Nightflyer,” to wide acclaim in 2021. This solo debut followed her work with her husband and songwriting partner JT Nero called Birds Of Chicago.

In “Nightflyer,” the singer addresses her abuse and sings of her hope and resilience: “His soul is trapped in that room; /But I crawled back in my mother’s womb,/ Came back out with my gold and my greens, / Now I see everything.” The song is a powerful statement, inspired by Russell’s own journey in becoming a mother.

I’m the moon’s dark side, I’m the solar flare,
The child of the earth, the child of the air;
I am the mother of the evening star;
I am the love that conquers all;
Yeah, I’m a midnight rider,
Stone bonafide night flyer;
I’m an angel of the morning too,
The promise that the dawn will bring you.

The rhythm and structure of the song echoes he gnostic poem “The Thunder: Perfect Mind,” which Russell read when she was sixteen and which stayed with her. Having suffered trauma, including an abusive stepfather, Russell has explained: I’ve been meditating on the nature of resilience, endurance, and grace more deeply since becoming a mother. I was trying to bridge the divide and embrace shame and my inner divinity equally with this piece.”

While the background gives some additional depth to the song, “Nightflyer” flies on its own wings even if you do not know anything about the inspirations. Check it out.