Mike Hallal - Time For A Turnaround (2025)

Mike Hallal was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1952. His grandfather gave him his first guitar at age 12 and a year later he wrote his first song, inspired by the music of The Beatles and Rolling Stones. At age 19, he moved to Boston where he recorded solo and played with a number of different bands. After 40 years living in Boston dedicated to making music, he now lives in the mountains of western Maine and still making music.

With this album, Mike returns to recording solo acoustic music. It is his 11th full length album release and first solo album in thirty years. He first decided to record forty songs just to tie up copyrights, but as he recorded, he heard many that he thought was worth gathering for a full album. Mike sings in a pleasant, resonating baritone.

The title song opens the album with as he determines “Blue days / black nights/ truth hurts/it bites/don’t look now/ time for a turnaround” as he namedrops acronyms of groups responsible for the existing despair, including “USA – what the f___”. He then says he is going to you down “Melody Road” noting “Rhythm and blues and a little guitar can warm your heart and set you on fire”. On “Lookin’ Out for Me”, he says “long ago a gypsy told me my destiny, knots and crosses an early decree”.

“Ee Stomp” moves into folk music as Mike warns, “Continuing this agony / we’re taking high inequity / you know what they say about history/ the high an mighty fall repeatedly”. On “Mollyocket Song”, he asks for somebody to “put another nickel in my pocket, tell me everything is going to be all right” and if I die “There will be someone to treat my body right and put my head down, so I face the mornin'”. On “Little Love” he warns “of snakes in the grass everywhere” and advises that “no one is going to break you down”.

Mike moves back into a blues mode as he declares “she is the hottest wheeler dealer the world’s ever seen / pick your mind and pockets clean” “one wrong move, she pays you back “In Spades”. On “Oh My Girl”, Mike says she is a beautiful girl but get too close and you will see she has a “warning scar on one cheek, red lines down both arms, Venus undone”. in a tale of abuse. “You Rolled Me” is another love -related song as he relates ” now we’re old and grey and that’s no shame and thru all of the days I love you the same”.

He asks, “What You Gonna Do” “when your first cheats on you”, when the money runs out on you” or “when the devil comes calling you?”. “It is all right to cry yourself asleep tonight, you will feel better in the mornin’, the sun is going to shine”. He declares that I “Wish You Well” and “you find your peace of mind” but as “I love you, I can’t let you keep troubling me no more”. On “Old Tricks”, Mike advises to “make a list of the things you are proud of, kind and good things that you’ve done, memorize it , maybe alphabetize it for times when you’re feelin’ down”.

Mike provides an allegory about life as he observes the Bluejays in his yard and cites “Yesterday was dark. so dark and dreary” noting how the birds “chatter and carry on just like we do” and they “scatter and flee for their lives from their enemies”. The album concludes an upbeat “Free to Dance” as he tells her to “spin around, I’ll keep watch out, I love to watch you move, you are so beautiful, you trip the light fantastic, yes you do”.

The album delivers a simple, continuous acoustic backing to pleasant vocals by Mike. I would deem the album more clearly to be a folk music album with an occasional touch of blues.