Returning after his intermittently excellent but unfulfilling covers album, Micah P Hinson is back on familiar territory with his latest album's tales of woe and misery.

He claims he hopes people find hope in this collection of twelve tracks but as an artist Hinson is always at his best when miserable.

Here he reaches new levels of self depreciation – or self pity if you're feeling condemnatory. His mixed entreaty on 'Take Off That Dress For Me' may be the ultimate distillation of Hinson's mix of longing and loathing:
“Sweetness, take off that dress for me/Against all hope and sense of dignity/Sweetness, you can fall in love with me/Against all hope and dignity/Sweetness you can be by my side/Against all hope and sense of human pride.”

Even without any knowledge of his potted personal history, Hinson's plaintive voice keeps this above cloying misery. But his willingness to leave much of this album sparse makes it willfully and frustratingly meandering.

Hinson has never been a songwriter with a slavish devotion to the standard structures for pop songs. His frequent reliance on one phrase per song works mainly because he picks a good phrase and slowly evolves it as he builds. Even by his standards though, musically many of the tracks here feel immensely unfocused.

This will not phase die-hard fans who will easily be able to lose themselves in the layers of instruments and the atmosphere of Hinson's ever-plaintive moan. Unlike previous albums though, 'Pioneer Saboteurs' does lack the absolute killer tracks that hook themselves into your mind.

It is blessed with some deeply enjoyable moments. The briefly perky interlude of '2's and 3's' is seems relatively thunderous when set against the low-key nature of the rest of the album. And on 'My God, My God' he manages a rare feat – being both low key, plaintive and uplifting all at once.


Track Listing