Derek Senn - How Could a Man (2019)

She’s a yogi / she’s a reader / she’s an unapologetic eater / a carnivore poor pigs, cows, and chickens / she’s even-keeled until crossed / that’s when dishes get tossed / don’t bequeath your fine china to her / she’s a laundress / she’s a gourmet chef / an EMT she won’t shy away / she’ll suture cuts / she’ll pick a tick right off your nuts / if you puke your guts out she’s there to console you.

Thus begins the title track from Derek Senn’s latest album, How Could a Man. The song is a dedication to his wife, who also graces the cover photograph. It captures her glancing into the bathroom mirror, nine months pregnant and contemplative. The picture aptly represents several of the album’s songs, which serve as dispatches from the front lines of domesticity. “Be Careful What You Wish For” is a wistful snapshot of the couple savoring a week alone sans kids, as they feebly attempt to revisit their wild-oat-sowing days. “The Nuclear Family” begins as a chugging folk number about a crumbling marriage before launching into a boisterous chorus en Espanol replete with flamenco handclaps as Derek shouts “Estoy Aburrido!!” “Have a Nice Day” juxtaposes lyrics about the tedium of the mundane with power pop as Senn drawls over a bass groove: “My twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-seventh day / and one thing is for sure / I’m gonna get a pedicure.”