Album Review: Mrs. Henry – Keep On Rising
The long months of 2020 were sad, hard, dark times for many of us. And for a great deal of us they were the times when we had the chance to try something new, perhaps something unusual or a little bit more ambitious. San Diego outfit Mrs. Henry were among the latter. It was during the pandemics that they started working on a 3-act rock opera "Keep On Rising".
The project was inspired by such acts as AC/DC, Alice Cooper, and Guns N’ Roses to Queen, Billy Joel, and Outkast, all of which are not alien to a certain degree of theatricality. The protagonist of the album is called YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR. Such a name choice turns this character into a sort of archetypical figure rather than a guy / girl next door we all can connect with. And it has a few interesting connotations.
For example, the word YOUR that appeals directly to me, the listener. It implies that I have chosen the "rising star", or at least the fact that the protagonist represents me in a way, sharing something in common with me as a member of the larger group (capitalist society). All of this creates a sort of tension from the start, due to the fact that I may (or may not) agree with those implications.
Another point of tension is the expression RISING STAR. "Rising" implies that the character is not quite there. However, he or she is still called a star. The band that is telling us the story already presents the main hero as something he or she hasn't yet grown to be. Do you they know more than we do? Or is it just another case, similar to a million others when radio, TV and internet tried to sell us something, throwing dust in our eyes? The name has already drawn us in, and we are dying to see how the story unveils!
The project was inspired by such acts as AC/DC, Alice Cooper, and Guns N’ Roses to Queen, Billy Joel, and Outkast, all of which are not alien to a certain degree of theatricality. The protagonist of the album is called YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR. Such a name choice turns this character into a sort of archetypical figure rather than a guy / girl next door we all can connect with. And it has a few interesting connotations.
For example, the word YOUR that appeals directly to me, the listener. It implies that I have chosen the "rising star", or at least the fact that the protagonist represents me in a way, sharing something in common with me as a member of the larger group (capitalist society). All of this creates a sort of tension from the start, due to the fact that I may (or may not) agree with those implications.
Another point of tension is the expression RISING STAR. "Rising" implies that the character is not quite there. However, he or she is still called a star. The band that is telling us the story already presents the main hero as something he or she hasn't yet grown to be. Do you they know more than we do? Or is it just another case, similar to a million others when radio, TV and internet tried to sell us something, throwing dust in our eyes? The name has already drawn us in, and we are dying to see how the story unveils!
The story starts with "Keep On Rising", an a capella motto that sounds as if "Queen" decided to record a Buddist mantra, and continues with "A Time Like This", an important piece that sets the scene for the whole record. The times are harsh, and the circumstances are scary and dangerous, marked by growing pressure and unrest. There's "blood", and "looting", and "bodies pile up, the faces hit the floor". And amidst this chaos there's a mysterious "we" singing these words to a no less mysterious somebody. The person that the band is talking to seems to be a working man (or woman):
Just another boss man barking back at you
Telling you what to do...
You wanna grow old,
You do as you’re told?
However, the "we" are here to lend a hand: "we’ll help you see it through".
The next song seems to explain the "we" mystery. It's conveniently called "We Are A Rock N Roll Band". Just like the previous piece, it's loud, cheerful and glamorous, bringing to mind all the glam rock gods, but melodically being probably the closest to Elton John's glam period. The track boasts a stadium-sized chorus and has cleverly collected all the cliched rock-n-roll formulas quoted in countless anthems: "gimme more", "I want it all", "nothing to lose" etc. etc. Many of them are demands ("Give me something to believe in"), but some are the answers to those demands ("I've got what you need"). What exactly this salvation is yet to be seen, but maybe it's nothing more than another formula used in the song: "Get on the dance floor".
"Back in the Beginning... A Kid At Heart" is sung from a different perspective – the lyrical character of the song gives an oath to the gods of rock-n-roll, promising to "give it his all, do or die". The pantheon curiously includes Marylin Monroe, Run DMC and even Cardi B, along with many of the usual suspects (Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Johnny Cash).
However, the protagonist doesn't quite realize what he or she sets himself up for, as becomes evident on "Bye, Bye, Baby". The character wants to break on through to "the other side", like Jim Morrison, but of the ones who did no one has lived to tell the tale. "There’s more than just meets the eye", and, what's even worse, "there’s no one who can save you". So "if you don’t want to get out alive, you’ve got to decide your fate". This seems to be the real answer, but, as it often happens, it is given in the form of a Buddhist koan.
And a good way to solve one would be meditation and the singing of mantras, which leads us to the second example of this "genre" on the record – "Doing It Right":
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Somebody told me you’ve been thinking about doing it right
Somebody told me you’ve been thinking about doing it right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
I meditated together with the band, and the process inevitably led me to another seemingly unsolvable mystery: "What is right?" (I'll muse over the question of "What is doing?" in my next life). No wonder it has led the band in the same direction. "I Don't Want to Let You Go" is a tale of how the times have gotten even weirder than on the opening track, and "the truth is not the truth it USED to be". However, unsurprisingly, the main hero chooses rock-n-roll as his moral compass, trying to hold on to the old ways and singing "I don’t wanna let you go-oh". The character also makes another important choice in the process:
My name is Mrs. Henry.
And I’m a man if you say I am
And I’m a woman if I want to be.
Dear protagonist, I hope you excuse me for not trying to make choices for you. I'm not saying you're a man, but that doesn't exactly make you a woman, because we don't know if you want to be one or not. Maybe you want something else now (ice cream? vodka? organic tofu salad? violence and destruction? a dose of daily vocal excercises? what do the modern rock stars stereotypically prefer?). Anyway, this makes things just a tiny bit clearer, and from now on I'll just safely use the "they" pronoun, referring to our new friend YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR.
And then comes "Back in the Grease" with its viscous groove and slow tempo. The music perfectly captures the feeling of being stuck. And the vocals sound like a cry of a wounded animal. Our protagonist is facing themselves, in all the shame and dirt. This is not the first time that the drugs are mentioned, but this is is the exact moment when we understand that shit gets real.
In this all-time low moment the protagonist's inner voice tells them it's time to "hit the brakes", otherwise they're gonna "crash & burn" (hence the song title). The music gets super energetic, carried by the high-octane guitar riffs.
After that we need an 8-second "Moment of silence" (clever artistic decision) to quickly regroup ourselves and get ready to talk about "The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society". And there's a lot to talk about! But how do we find the words? Take them from the prophets of the past. Not long ago our hero wanted to break on through "to the other side". But this didn't work out in his favour. Change of plans! And another great quote to lead the way. Now, like our idol Freddie, we "want to break free". Preferably in every sense of the word. A good starting point would be breaking from musical genres. Just like the above-quoted genius, Mrs. Henry mix the unmixable to create anthemic, epic, highly spiritual music. Gospel, opera, psychedelic rock and even a hint of Broadway tunes are all thrown into the mix, creating a feeling of "rising higher and higher", as the text suggests, following the album's title and our protagonist's name.
"Delivery Room of the Morning Sun" sounds almost like ambient, until the marching drums come into the picture. The unlikely buildup leads into a fast and dizzying "Here I Am" that feels like a sonic equivalent of a bad trip that brings you to a good place. The good place is a wall with the words of prophets on it, as the next song's title tells us. And the title is not misleading. The texturally rich track does sound a lot like "Pink Floyd's" "Wall" in the best way possible. It's cold-blooded funk slowed down to the extreme and sprinkled with an enlightening dose of psychedelics.
Super slow is followed by super fast – "In The Land of Nothing Matters" is like a black horse galloping through an open field with a demon on its back. But the instrumental "Fate Vs. Faith" is even crazier. Now the demon turns into a monster, eats the horse alive and starts running faster than the horse ever could... Of course, only to crash and break into a million tiny pieces at the end of the song.
And then comes the time to rise from the abyss and become yourself again. To become "Born Again", surrounded by acoustic guitar chords and warm flutey keyboards. 'Cause "It's Okay". You were born again, and now you're a baby. And the best baby food is an archetypal McCartneyesque ballad with transparent lulling piano and oceans of compassion in every word and every note.
But every baby needs to come to terms with the world and cry sometimes. 'Cause it's not always okay. Sometimes "It's NOT Okay". Guitars are crying too. The voices whispering the calming words are drowned in the sea of their electric tears. But we'll get through.
But not at once. First we need to get through the baby colic, perfectly captured by "Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch" with its farting wah-wahs, whistling demonic synths and an atmosphere of total unrest. And yes, it's a real ranch that the colic is happening at. We are surrounded by nice country vocalists who are eager to help by playing guitars and singing some words of wisdom on "Find A Circle (It’s A Wonderful Feeling)":
Life goes by and it’s easy
To miss it if you are always there
Don’t get caught up in decision
It’s so easy to say no when you fear
Make the best of your demons
That come and they go and then are here
Don’t get hung up and don’t pass things by
Remember the past isn’t present
If someone sang those words to me when I was depressed, I could probably skip the pills. Maybe our hero is gonna get better too. And – what's even more important – they will keep on rising. The first step to stop beating around the bush and start rising again is another healthy injection of McCartney concentrate in the form of "Tell Me a Story ... Action! Action!".
The second step is "The Tall Tell Tale of the Three Little Pigs". The verbose riff-heavy number works as a sort of sobering moment for YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR:
You’re running out of time.
So you better keep moving,
While the clock has been ticking you’ve spent your life living .
The advice is taken literally. It's hard not to keep moving the moment you hear the first seconds of "What’s My Re-Action?! I Doh Wanna Le U Gogh". It's one of the fastest, dirtiest, heaviest and most fun songs I've heard in a long time.
And then after a few interludes and an overture it's time for a super hit. "Everybody Wants Peace and Love" is a certified banger. The song feels like a lost classic from the 70s that could belong on a worn-out record from you father's vinyl collection. After listening to the song a few times, you will find yourself humming the main bass riff for days.
Just another boss man barking back at you
Telling you what to do...
You wanna grow old,
You do as you’re told?
However, the "we" are here to lend a hand: "we’ll help you see it through".
The next song seems to explain the "we" mystery. It's conveniently called "We Are A Rock N Roll Band". Just like the previous piece, it's loud, cheerful and glamorous, bringing to mind all the glam rock gods, but melodically being probably the closest to Elton John's glam period. The track boasts a stadium-sized chorus and has cleverly collected all the cliched rock-n-roll formulas quoted in countless anthems: "gimme more", "I want it all", "nothing to lose" etc. etc. Many of them are demands ("Give me something to believe in"), but some are the answers to those demands ("I've got what you need"). What exactly this salvation is yet to be seen, but maybe it's nothing more than another formula used in the song: "Get on the dance floor".
"Back in the Beginning... A Kid At Heart" is sung from a different perspective – the lyrical character of the song gives an oath to the gods of rock-n-roll, promising to "give it his all, do or die". The pantheon curiously includes Marylin Monroe, Run DMC and even Cardi B, along with many of the usual suspects (Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Johnny Cash).
However, the protagonist doesn't quite realize what he or she sets himself up for, as becomes evident on "Bye, Bye, Baby". The character wants to break on through to "the other side", like Jim Morrison, but of the ones who did no one has lived to tell the tale. "There’s more than just meets the eye", and, what's even worse, "there’s no one who can save you". So "if you don’t want to get out alive, you’ve got to decide your fate". This seems to be the real answer, but, as it often happens, it is given in the form of a Buddhist koan.
And a good way to solve one would be meditation and the singing of mantras, which leads us to the second example of this "genre" on the record – "Doing It Right":
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
Somebody told me you’ve been thinking about doing it right
Somebody told me you’ve been thinking about doing it right
Doing It Right
Doing It Right
I meditated together with the band, and the process inevitably led me to another seemingly unsolvable mystery: "What is right?" (I'll muse over the question of "What is doing?" in my next life). No wonder it has led the band in the same direction. "I Don't Want to Let You Go" is a tale of how the times have gotten even weirder than on the opening track, and "the truth is not the truth it USED to be". However, unsurprisingly, the main hero chooses rock-n-roll as his moral compass, trying to hold on to the old ways and singing "I don’t wanna let you go-oh". The character also makes another important choice in the process:
My name is Mrs. Henry.
And I’m a man if you say I am
And I’m a woman if I want to be.
Dear protagonist, I hope you excuse me for not trying to make choices for you. I'm not saying you're a man, but that doesn't exactly make you a woman, because we don't know if you want to be one or not. Maybe you want something else now (ice cream? vodka? organic tofu salad? violence and destruction? a dose of daily vocal excercises? what do the modern rock stars stereotypically prefer?). Anyway, this makes things just a tiny bit clearer, and from now on I'll just safely use the "they" pronoun, referring to our new friend YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR.
And then comes "Back in the Grease" with its viscous groove and slow tempo. The music perfectly captures the feeling of being stuck. And the vocals sound like a cry of a wounded animal. Our protagonist is facing themselves, in all the shame and dirt. This is not the first time that the drugs are mentioned, but this is is the exact moment when we understand that shit gets real.
In this all-time low moment the protagonist's inner voice tells them it's time to "hit the brakes", otherwise they're gonna "crash & burn" (hence the song title). The music gets super energetic, carried by the high-octane guitar riffs.
After that we need an 8-second "Moment of silence" (clever artistic decision) to quickly regroup ourselves and get ready to talk about "The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society". And there's a lot to talk about! But how do we find the words? Take them from the prophets of the past. Not long ago our hero wanted to break on through "to the other side". But this didn't work out in his favour. Change of plans! And another great quote to lead the way. Now, like our idol Freddie, we "want to break free". Preferably in every sense of the word. A good starting point would be breaking from musical genres. Just like the above-quoted genius, Mrs. Henry mix the unmixable to create anthemic, epic, highly spiritual music. Gospel, opera, psychedelic rock and even a hint of Broadway tunes are all thrown into the mix, creating a feeling of "rising higher and higher", as the text suggests, following the album's title and our protagonist's name.
"Delivery Room of the Morning Sun" sounds almost like ambient, until the marching drums come into the picture. The unlikely buildup leads into a fast and dizzying "Here I Am" that feels like a sonic equivalent of a bad trip that brings you to a good place. The good place is a wall with the words of prophets on it, as the next song's title tells us. And the title is not misleading. The texturally rich track does sound a lot like "Pink Floyd's" "Wall" in the best way possible. It's cold-blooded funk slowed down to the extreme and sprinkled with an enlightening dose of psychedelics.
Super slow is followed by super fast – "In The Land of Nothing Matters" is like a black horse galloping through an open field with a demon on its back. But the instrumental "Fate Vs. Faith" is even crazier. Now the demon turns into a monster, eats the horse alive and starts running faster than the horse ever could... Of course, only to crash and break into a million tiny pieces at the end of the song.
And then comes the time to rise from the abyss and become yourself again. To become "Born Again", surrounded by acoustic guitar chords and warm flutey keyboards. 'Cause "It's Okay". You were born again, and now you're a baby. And the best baby food is an archetypal McCartneyesque ballad with transparent lulling piano and oceans of compassion in every word and every note.
But every baby needs to come to terms with the world and cry sometimes. 'Cause it's not always okay. Sometimes "It's NOT Okay". Guitars are crying too. The voices whispering the calming words are drowned in the sea of their electric tears. But we'll get through.
But not at once. First we need to get through the baby colic, perfectly captured by "Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch" with its farting wah-wahs, whistling demonic synths and an atmosphere of total unrest. And yes, it's a real ranch that the colic is happening at. We are surrounded by nice country vocalists who are eager to help by playing guitars and singing some words of wisdom on "Find A Circle (It’s A Wonderful Feeling)":
Life goes by and it’s easy
To miss it if you are always there
Don’t get caught up in decision
It’s so easy to say no when you fear
Make the best of your demons
That come and they go and then are here
Don’t get hung up and don’t pass things by
Remember the past isn’t present
If someone sang those words to me when I was depressed, I could probably skip the pills. Maybe our hero is gonna get better too. And – what's even more important – they will keep on rising. The first step to stop beating around the bush and start rising again is another healthy injection of McCartney concentrate in the form of "Tell Me a Story ... Action! Action!".
The second step is "The Tall Tell Tale of the Three Little Pigs". The verbose riff-heavy number works as a sort of sobering moment for YOUR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY RISING STAR:
You’re running out of time.
So you better keep moving,
While the clock has been ticking you’ve spent your life living .
The advice is taken literally. It's hard not to keep moving the moment you hear the first seconds of "What’s My Re-Action?! I Doh Wanna Le U Gogh". It's one of the fastest, dirtiest, heaviest and most fun songs I've heard in a long time.
And then after a few interludes and an overture it's time for a super hit. "Everybody Wants Peace and Love" is a certified banger. The song feels like a lost classic from the 70s that could belong on a worn-out record from you father's vinyl collection. After listening to the song a few times, you will find yourself humming the main bass riff for days.
"I Got Your Back" is another song with a ton of hit potential in its melodies, riffs, sound and structure. It feels like a friend's pat on the shoulder, like coming into the sunshine after hopelessly walking through a deep forest for days.
But we need to dive back into darkness for a little while to finally see light at the end of the tunnel. And this is what happens on the beautifully kaleidoscopiс "The Story of The Lost & Found". The light shows itself right after, on the insanely catchy "Better Make It Count" with a groove that reminded us of Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia".
"Faith and Fate" feels like the point of coming to terms with yourself. This is where the healing process starts. You regain the faith in yourself, and your inner self stops whispering and starts singing in full chest voice: "We're Gonna Win". The song is a vibrant, celebratory, stadium-sized hommage to "Queen". "Hope, Keep On Rising" triumphantly continues in the same vein.
The culmination comes on the album's biggest hit (and its final track) – "Peace, Love, Rock N Roll", another song that feels like a classic that's been in our record collections forever. The track sounds quirky and theatrical, like much of the album, but it retains a quality that's important for Mrs. Henry's music – its disarming sincerity, first and foremost expressed in the melodies and the vocals.
And it's this sincerity that I am going to carry with me through my days after the final chords of Mrs. Henry's ambitious rock opera have faded. And it's this sincerity that will keep attracting new hearts and minds to the project for years and years. And it's this sincerity that might finally make it a true classic.
But we need to dive back into darkness for a little while to finally see light at the end of the tunnel. And this is what happens on the beautifully kaleidoscopiс "The Story of The Lost & Found". The light shows itself right after, on the insanely catchy "Better Make It Count" with a groove that reminded us of Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia".
"Faith and Fate" feels like the point of coming to terms with yourself. This is where the healing process starts. You regain the faith in yourself, and your inner self stops whispering and starts singing in full chest voice: "We're Gonna Win". The song is a vibrant, celebratory, stadium-sized hommage to "Queen". "Hope, Keep On Rising" triumphantly continues in the same vein.
The culmination comes on the album's biggest hit (and its final track) – "Peace, Love, Rock N Roll", another song that feels like a classic that's been in our record collections forever. The track sounds quirky and theatrical, like much of the album, but it retains a quality that's important for Mrs. Henry's music – its disarming sincerity, first and foremost expressed in the melodies and the vocals.
And it's this sincerity that I am going to carry with me through my days after the final chords of Mrs. Henry's ambitious rock opera have faded. And it's this sincerity that will keep attracting new hearts and minds to the project for years and years. And it's this sincerity that might finally make it a true classic.