Johnny Delaware

Para Llevar

Normaltown (New West)

 Johnny Delaware is an artist on the move figuratively and literally. The title suggests that the album is from a different place, or should we say many places. Delaware, both a solo artist and the front man for the roots rock indie band Susto recorded the album in Mexico, the United States, and hotel rooms throughout Latin America.  Para Llevar means “to go” or “to take.” It’s a self-produced effort with Delaware playing most of the instruments, adding in only guests to play drums, pedal steel, trumpet, or  a few other instruments for a somewhat dreamy, psychedelic soundscape. The lyrics are a combination of story songs and rich poetic imagery that point to both the physical and the mental journey of finding oneself. In his case, he fell in love with the culture, and yes with a woman in Mexico City. He adopted a dog, bought land, and is now issuing his third solo album and second from essentially that locale, following 2022’s Energy of LIght.  Being in a new place is not a foreign thing at all for Delaware. He was born and raised in South Dakota, dropped out of college and rambled between Nashville, Albuquerque, and Austin before ‘settling down’ in Charleston, SC, the home base for Susto.  The move to Mexico was supposed to be temporary though it appears to be taking on roots. He still bounces back and forth when touring with Susto. He is, to cop another phrase, just ‘born to run’ as exemplified in the lyrics to the opening “Jungleful of Ghosts” – “I ain’t afraid/To get lost/Down a back road/I ain’t afraid of the hard way/Or to be alone/I ain’t afraid/To go through/A jungle full of ghosts.”

The music to that track is suitably mysterious and eerie with synths and hypnotic, trance-like beats behind his acoustic guitar with his voice just floating above these waves of sound, abetted by background harmonies from Andrea Franz in her lone appearance. In the pulsating “Running” he contrasts the comforts of a home and a lover with his mind constantly on the move in an effort to escape his past, as if settling down is completely out of character. As you listen more closely it’s a man trying to learn from his past to become better. The ballad “Sad Song” is an introspective, rather cloudy ballad that is sneaky infectious in the chorus – “Never had to search for a sad song/They always came out like it had one/Powerful fears/Transformative tears/I’m the one always leaving the song unsung.”

 The hand clapped rhythm, punchy trumpets, and jangling electric guitars in the standout  “Stubborn Faith” accompany maybe Delaware’s most optimistic song. Damn it. He is just going to enjoy being alive and thrive on resilience – “Slowly I fade/Further deepo down into the deep dark blue/Watch me fade/With stubborn faith.”  The soft and pillowy “Caution Darlin’” is the picture of a man in love, taking his positive outlook to even a higher plane. Delaware makes a less than subtle political dig in “You, Alone (Are the Revolution) – “Voting for a pig head sell-out /Sitting outside of the penitentiary walls…” Yet, his point here is to block out the noise and express oneself freely. The song flows so breezily, it’s almost like the preceding instrumental, “Incognita.” “Darkness” is another of the songs that seems to just float in the ether as Delaware sings about the creeping allure of negativity and cynicism while he’s clearly come to grips with it in the upbeat “Never Let Go,” offering a bright future outlook.

Standout closer “Mexico City Blues,” a play on the book of the same name, presents a story within a story, ironically almost the opposite kind of Delaware’s own, showing the dark side of the city, with Delaware acknowledging he’s seen that too, in the role of a listener who can appreciate a journey like a few others can.

Delaware’s Para LLevar is one of those sneaky good records that just gets better each time through.  It grabs, and won’t let go.

– Jim Hynes

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