Roky Erickson feat. Okkervil River – True Love Cast out All Evil

This collaboration between Roky Erickson (of legendary and heavily influential 1960s psych rockers 13th Floor Elevators) and modern-day Pitchfork-indie heroes Okkervil River is one of those projects that cannot be listened to, or indeed reviewed, simply at face value. Erickson’s long battles with drug and mental health issues seemed set to be one of those tales of rock and roll casualty with no happy ending: his intermittent periods of creativity all too often exploited by the unscrupulous, his brain fried by a combination of drugs and electro-convulsive therapy.

Wonderfully, though, Erickson’s story took a turn for the good in the early years of the new century, when his younger brother gained legal guardianship of him and helped him get decent care for the first time in decades. After remarkable progress, the second stroke of good fortune would seem to be 2006’s meeting between the singer and Okkervil River. They first worked together in concert in 2008, (the band acting as Erickson’s backing group) and have now assembled this album, is the result of Okkervil front man Will Sheff selecting and producing 12 tracks from an amassed archive of around 60, including some recordings originally made during the singer’s earliest incarcerations.

The album opens with ‘Devotional Number One’, the background crackle and hiss an indication of the circumstances under which it was recorded (during his stay at the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane). In a voice that is heartbreakingly fragile and vulnerable he sings of how “Jesus met Moses drinking from a well”, and – more bizarrely – how “Jesus is not a hallucinogenic mushroom”. Background voices mutter loudly and intrusively, to unsettling effect, as the track ends.

Religion is a key lyrical theme, clearly having served as a comfort and support to Erikson. In ‘Bring Back The Past’ he can “only pray that I won’t fall”, on ‘Please Judge’ his slightly mawkish plea for clemency for a young con uses the fact that “I’ve been watching him for days / And most of the time he prays” to further his argument, while another track is simply entitled ‘God Is Everywhere’.

The descriptions of his troubles are upfront and often stark. On ‘Ain’t Blues Too Sad’ he tells of how “electricity hammered me through my head”. ‘Goodbye Sweet Dreams’ is heartrending in its acceptance of what has been lost: “These dreams have grown so cold”, he sings, before pleading “Don’t leave me now”. What shines through though, rather than the grief and misery, is Erickson’s remarkable optimism. The beautiful, elegiac ‘Be And Bring Me Home’ sees him clinging to “the little things, meaning big” that show him “I’m not alone”, and determined to hold onto his own perceptions and judgements: “They told me you were dirty / I don’t see no dirt / They Told me you were strong / Funny, I don’t feel hurt”. Similarly inspirational are ‘True Love Cast Out All Evil’ with its summoning of the near-mystical powers of peace, love, mercy and justice as a counter to all the bad stuff; the simple acceptance found in ‘Think Of As One’ (“Your father is your father / Your mother is your mother”); and his ability to smile at “just the thought of one” in ‘Forever’. Romance and love are another constant reference, in both the negative (pleas of “Don’t leave me now”) to the uplifting and life-enhancing (“Shows I’m not alone”).

All the while Okkervil River are present in the musical backing. Sometimes their presence is felt more strongly, as in the wonderful shredding, shimmering guitars and additional instrumentation which contribute to the emotional heft of ‘Birds’d Crash’ or the dark, harsh setting for the proto-protest song ‘John Lawman’. Elsewhere they have kept things more minimal, allowing Erikson’s often-beautiful voice – full of emotion and grit and reminiscent of Johnny Cash or Kris Kristoffersen, say – to take centre stage. Musical styles range from a laid-back country rock (‘Bring Back The Past’) to the grizzled blues of ‘Ain’t Blues Too Sad’ or the intense piano-led ballad style found on ‘Be And Bring Me Home’ and ‘Please Judge’.

Perhaps Sheff puts it best of all when he says “This is not a cynical comeback record, a lukewarm update on an established legacy – these are the best songs Roky has ever written, unreleased due to decades plagued by the kind of personal tragedies that would destroy someone less resilient. This record has been the most challenging and rewarding, thing I’ve ever worked on”. What this collaboration has achieved has brought into being a beautifully presented and arranged work which showcases an artist unique not only for his incredible story, but also for his spirit, resilience and most of all for his art.