Visual artist and poet Lonnie Holley makes music that exists largely in its own genre. Now, on his most expansive album, he presents a new chapter in his musical journey. Tonky finds Holley offering up his most ambitious record yet, and a host of guest musicians add flourish to the layers of meaning here.
The brief "Life" brims with hope, Mary Lattimore's harp adding nuance to the number, while "The Burden" surges forward. An awareness of the past, of the larger past of American history for those of color in this country, is what gives the song depth, while Angel Bat Dawid's clarinet positively sings alongside Lonnie. Elsewhere, "What's Going On?" clatters and roars with help from Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, the cut's urgency at odds with the more contemplative numbers here, while "Did I Do Enough?" finds Jesca Hoop adding accentuation to Lonnie's musings on the questions we ask ourselves as we attempt to consider leaving this world a better place than when we entered it.
Tonky may be the most intuitive Lonnie Holley record. The collaborations here feel like a natural progression for Holley's art, and the music here feels more fleshed out, and better suited to each piece of writing. There are changes in style, obviously, when one leaps from a rap-infused number with Open Mike Eagle to a classical-styled one with Mary Lattimore, of course. But those jumps make sense. And the entire journey of Tonky seems like Holley's strongest and most cohesive album to date.
Tonky by Lonnie Holley is out now via Jagjaguwar.
[Photo: Lonnie Holley]