Press — M Lockwood Porter

The obvious dual influences of Springsteen and Dylan are present here, especially in his lyrics (“Get Back To The Wild” is truly one of the best spiritual anthems to come out in years), but you can also glimpse nods to others like Bright Eyes and Kristofferson.

This is an album that defies easy classification. If The Stranger from The Big Lebowski listened to this album, he might well say “Sometimes there’s an album, and it’s the album for its time and place.” And he’d be right. Porter demonstrates that you don’t need excessive volume to be powerful. 

Americana rocker M. Lockwood Porter is a courageous kind of guy. His astounding and emotionally-cutting new record, Communion in the Ashes, is a soul-draining expedition through a world he perceives as one not far removed from a sci-fi dystopia. “Broken Light,” which opens on stark ivories and his voice calling from across a fog, laments the descending darkness of “false prophets” and his attempts to wade through it all with only shards of brightness pinging from his soul.

Communion in the Ashesis flat-out rock n’ roll, a rallying cry, a series of anthemic songs by M. Lockwood Porter and his five-piece band designed to build hope amongst the surrounding doom.  Yes, this about community and moving forward rather than wallowing in despair. It’s one of those roll-down-your-windows and let-the-wind-blow-back-your-hair records, full of hooks and jangling guitars. No doubt he owes both to Dylan and Springsteen, but this is not a new stance for him.  Social and political issues were the focus of his 2016 How to Dream Again.