ALBUM REVIEW: John Fullbright Sets Himself Free for ‘The Liar’

“Some people suffer from a social stage fright / Like the world is a sniper with a bright spotlight,” John Fullbright sings on “Social Skills,” a darkly humorous tune off The Liar, his first new album since 2014. Though he can find the funny in needing a little alcoholic lubricant to be less of a loner in a crowd, there was a time when Fullbright prided himself on going it alone. But this time, a newfound openness softly coats his songs, thanks in part to a major shift in his willingness to collaborate. Letting others into the creative process has sweetened Fullbright’s songwriting, giving The Liar unexpected looseness and levity.

Fullbright’s star burned hot at the start of his career and now, eight years later, he is reminding us why. He can still write an unflinchingly vulnerable song that will shred your heart to pieces when he belts it out, low and leathery, with all the force of a freight train. At the piano with a devastating confession of love (“Safe to Say”), a gentle ode to music’s healing abilities (“Bearden, 1645”), or a pounding singalong of dissolution (“Poster Child”), or ripping on a guitar for an urgent declaration of self-improvement (“Paranoid Heart”), Fullbright is a livewire. The Liar puts his impressive vocal range to full use, in meditative, soulful hymns like “Stars” and the warm, bluesy growl of the title track, as he reckons lyrically with getting older and trying to be a better man.

Relinquishing some control over his songs and finding community among fellow Oklahoman musicians like Paddy Ryan and Jesse Aycock seems to have primed Fullbright for a return as triumphant as The Liar. But it’s the sense that he’s having a good time that really gives The Liar its glow. Returning to the scrutiny and speculation of releasing an album may have seemed daunting once, but with songs like these, Fullbright is reclaiming his place.

John Fullbright’s The Liar is out Sept. 30 via Blue Dirt Records and Thirty Tigers.