Christian Lee Hutson Combines New and Nostalgia on ‘Beginners’

Telling yourself you’ll be okay, that everything will work out, is a critical part of the human experience. When all seems lost and you feel hopeless, you can find a bit of comfort in that positive little voice in your head, if only you can conjure it up. For LA singer-songwriter Christian Lee Hutson, it wasn’t until adulthood that he finally accessed that part of his psyche. He grew up too fast, as city kids often do, and now finds himself reflecting on aspects of his childhood and coming of age with fresh eyes. We are brought into this experience through his ANTI- debut, Beginners, a stirring introduction to Hutson’s masterful storytelling.

Lovingly produced with a minimal touch by Hutson’s friend Phoebe Bridgers, Beginners is a spare and quiet collection of songs about the tenderness of adolescence, first love, and heartbreak, and the value of having a little perspective. On album highlight “Get the Old Band Back Together,” Hutson gently longs for a reunion with old friends. “Let’s get back in the room / And let the magic happen,” he sings in that hushed, perfectly grainy voice that feels simultaneously influenced by Paul Simon and Elliott Smith.

On “Atheist,” he relies on soft, Smith-like harmonies to tell a story of the way our memory plays tricks on us, idealizing and mythologizing the messy and dark parts of our youth. “I don’t remember getting older / But I’m slowing down / I don’t know if I’m gonna miss you / Where I’m going now,” he sings to a hypnotically soothing melody.

“I’m a chip off the old block / Cause I’m all talk,” he sings on “Talk,” a tune about confronting fear by seeming unaffected, even as it eats you alive inside. “Lose this Number” is tinged with regret and shame, even as strings swell magnificently in the background.

Nostalgia seeps out of every pore of Beginners, as Hutson learns to appreciate things he once took for granted — something we all do when we’re young and time doesn’t feel quite as precious. Hutson may feel like he’s just getting started, but Beginners shows an artist fully formed and wise beyond his years, whether or not he believes it just yet.