Louisiana native James Dupré released his debut album Stoned To Death yesterday, a solid debut offering that highlights his smooth and twangy vocals and smart, emotive songwriting. Rooted in country sensibilities and a strong sense of storytelling, the 10-track release is in many ways an ode to relationships, whether it be the casual, the ambiguous, or the heart-wrenching.
Stoned To Death has an impressive level of cohesion, not just sonically, but as an overarching story. It begins with “Green Light,” a song as lyrically carefree as the music, an uptempo companion to hitting the road at full speed in the sunshine. “Green Light” could also be considered the catalyst for much of the rest of the record; chasing a dream full speed can lead to complicated relationships, of which Stoned To Death has many.
“Mama said from the moment that I could talk I was singing a leaving song,” Dupré laments on “Sad Song.” The track, a Jeremy Spillman co-write which serves as the penultimate on the album, was the first that Dupré wrote upon moving to Nashville.
“I feel like “Sad Song” is sort of the song that explains why I’m singing all these other songs,” Dupré says. Though it’s coated in an upbeat glaze, the song is at times melancholic lyrically, finding the glass half full side of companionship in misery.
“I’m a happy guy and I love happy songs, but they don’t make me feel the way I feel when I hear George Jones sing “There’s The Door,” says the former paramedic and Voice contestant, who cites Jones, as well as Vince Gill, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne, as early influences. “George Jones had a happy song every now and then, [but] most of his songs he just knew how to really pull at your heart.”
Dupré handles the melancholic moments well. “Hurt Good,” a “dark and sexy” song that invites a heartache well spent, and “Whatever That Was,” which waxes nostalgic for something real, if ambiguous, are standouts. “Perfect Time,” which follows the former two in sequence for a telling narrative arc, finds placation in their relationship being “perfect for the perfect time.” Even through the lighter moments, like “Lonesome Alone” or “Till The Real Thing Comes,” Dupré’s is a delicate balance between hope and heartache, pain and promise.
Though the album feels effortless for Dupré, a career in music wasn’t always a given. “I was in college for meteorology,” he says. Dupré grew up with a fascination not just for music but also for Louisiana hurricanes; while his friends had posters of Pamela Anderson in their rooms, his featured hurricane tracking charts, eventually leading to his study of it in school.
“It was during college that I really started performing,” he continues. “I kind of broke out of my shell a little bit and joined a band. We started performing out and I realized, well, this is a lot more fun, and music has always been something that I wanted to do. Once I did, it was something I couldn’t stop thinking about, so I quit school and moved back home.”
Any parallels between meteorology and the music business? “Unpredictability,” he laughs.
Grab Stoned To Death on iTunes, and preview below:
Great write-up on an awesome talent!