I sit here listening to Attendance Records’ brand new 10″ vinyl release, The World, Differently, featuring local musicians Walker Lukens and the Eastern Sea, two of our favorites. But what makes this record extra special is the fact that Anderson High School students wrote the lyrics. I won’t wax these sentiments redundant, but the fact remains that this is an impressive collection of songs written by a collection of sincere spirits from concept to creation. It’s a great inspiration to see highly creative lyricists in a setting one may not expect – a high school classroom – and see the world, differently. Let’s embrace a creative spirit at every age, not only in ourselves but in each other.
The lyrics pour out unabashed emotion into new territories of metaphors and similes, lyrical writing in its most fledgling form. In a recent speech, Bob Dylan quoted Sam Cooke who said after he was told he had a beautiful voice: “Well that’s very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.” Now, Dylan’s context was a bit different, but examining it from our current perspective I can see how conversely, lyrics are only so poetic as we believe our singer to be. Walker and Matt, with beautiful musical support from the Eastern Sea achieve this aim. This record is poetically and musically complete. Complete with realistic studio engineering from Mr. Landon at Estuary and complete with original self-portraits included in the booklet accompanying the vinyl. All original lyrics are transcribed for reading pleasure. Here is a sampling of what resulted after professional consultation:
“Escaping my entrapment/This is how I win.” – This Is How I Win by Marissa Escobedo
“The definition of blue is me.” – Prisoner by Tatum Lopez
“When I look into your eyes/I see the world differently/Why must he hate the doorbell?/He has a strong sense of smell.” – The World, Differently by Justin Heinzke, about his dog.
From the mightiest triumph, to the most desperate plead, and through the eyes of the family dog, we are treated to an intimate glimpse into the mind of a young person. Saturday night’s release show at Studium featured The World, Differently‘s main vocalists Walker Lukens and Matt Hines, Attendance Records’ Membership Coordinator Lizzie Buckley, Claire Puckett, Charm Bracelet, and a partial Voxtrot reunion courtesy of Ramesh and Jason Chronis.
Select any image below to open in a slideshow viewer. All photos © Lukas Read Truckenbrod & Pop Press International; all rights reserved.
