M Horton Smith - Blessed of the Flesh (2019)

M. Horton Smith’s latest full-length LP release, Blessed of the Flesh, a heavily themed follow up to 2015’s Silver Tongued Devil, reminisces, reexamines, and reexplores his past, present, and future through the abstract and often obstructed lenses of faith, sin, and love, and the pursuit of all three.

Rooted in the high-desert Americana-folk style, Blessed of the Flesh starts off by taking an introspective journey through the lustful endeavors of youth. Songs like I Remember You Well and Everybody Needs A Lover Who Knows Them Well, which evoke the natural longing of carnal connection and wide-eyed wonder, are then counterbalanced by the universally shared experiences of doubt, loss, and ultimately, death in Dreamless Sleep, Child of the Wandering Sea, and the thoughtful meditation Kiplyn Davis. In between, we gain insight into the grappling and questioning of long-held concepts of sin and religion within contemporary culture.

Everything I Have Loved, We Are One, and Don’t Be Denied signify a rising from the ashes of the past as one sheds self-doubt and embraces new adventures and the opportunity for a more expansive worldview. In the end, Blessed of the Flesh shines a light on the beauty of this life and holds in high reverence the human commonalities found in nature and its life-giving forces. We see an artist determined to tap into his courage to pursue his own path and are inspired to do the same.