ALBUM REVIEW: Humor and Humility Drive Home Josh Fortenbery’s Songs on ‘No Such Thing As Forever’

Admittedly, the first impression upon listening to the South Midland flat vowel sounds on Josh Fortenbery’s debut solo album, No Such Thing as Forever, may be that he sure doesn’t sound like he’s from Alaska. And he’s not. While his bio reveals that he has lived in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Thailand, and Mexico, he has now adopted Juneau as his hometown, where he recorded the album with musicians from that area. The project was co-produced by fellow Alaskan Justin Smith after Fortenbery secured a grant from the local arts council.

Josh Fortenbery (photo by Annie Bartholomew)

Fortenbery’s distinct voice — some call it gravelly — is perfectly suited to the tone of the songs he has collected. His self-examination, even self-recrimination, in the lyrics is balanced by threads of humor under the surface. The songs provide a perspective on family relationships, aging, even facing death. Rather than presuming to have all the answers, Fortenbery instead seems perfectly aware of the contradictions and irony running through the songs.

The opening track “Bitter,” reflects his own distrust of online dialogue, warning in the chorus: “If you believe what you read online / you’re gonna die bitter.”

Fortenbery wrote all of the songs except “New Fallen Snow,” which was written by the late Alaskan songwriter Buddy Tabor. Many of the songs wrestle with the complication of family. “Heirlooms,” the most haunting song on the album, is enhanced by the use of strings. The song opens with an arco bass drone, shifting to soft bass and fiddle played against Fortenbery’s faster fingerpicking, with a shift to staccato strings on the chorus. In the lyrics, Fortenbery considers the potential of passing down family traits as heirlooms — namely, the temper he inherited from grandfather and father. He muses, “Last thing the world needs is another like me.”

“Nepotism,” the simpler tune that follows, looks at aging through similar lens, noting, “I didn’t do a thing to earn these years / Was my parents that put me here.” Fortenbery’s simple folk guitar style and clever songwriting are also at play in “Siblings,” written for his younger sister. He describes carrying her when she was “too young to walk” and “too drunk to talk” while admitting he has tried to live up to her often-inflated belief in him.

Josh Fortenbery (photo by Annie Bartholomew)

Fortenbery wrote two tracks on the album after the death of his grandmother, a Southern character he describes in “Honey” as “my decorator, terrorized waiters, an orchestrator of good mischief.” Both this song and “Nothing” imply regret for not calling often enough or thinking of her as much as she thought of him. While “Honey” is playful and upbeat, “Nothing,” though certainly not funereal, has a more somber tone invoked by a layer of organ music.

No Such Thing as Forever defies labeling. While many of the tracks have a folk vibe, “Bored to Death” and “Last Call” evoke more of a bluegrass, honky-tonk sound from their opening fiddle strokes through the backup instrumentation. In “Last Call,” which Fortenbery calls his version of “Good Hearted Woman,” his lyrics play with ambiguity, as he repeats in the chorus, “After last call I need another / and think every mending heart deserves a break.”

The closing track, “Another Existential Crisis,” has more of a south-of-the-border sound, particularly in the guitar arrangement. Despite the dark theme suggested by the title, the chorus of voices joining Fortenbery on the refrain produce an ironic sense of fun, repeating, “And I wonder who I was, wonder who I will become.”

The impact of the album comes in part from Fortenbery’s clever lyrics, with rich imagery and creative rhyme, delivered with his sometimes unexpected phrasing and unique vocal timbre. The musical variety, alternating between simple finger-picking and rich additions of strings, mandolin tremolo, slide guitar, and vocal harmonies with a light touch, avoids predictability. A pure Alaskan project, No Such Thing as Forever achieves a universal musical and lyrical appeal.

Josh Fortenbery’s No Such Thing as Forever comes out March 8.