Emily Masson - twenty first century mood

Emily Masson

twenty first century mood
self-released; 2021

​3.9 out of 5

By Dino DiMuro

Indiana native Emily Masson has just released her debut album twenty first century mood. Though her photos had me expecting more of an acoustic folk experience, Masson actually channels a gritty New York Patti Smith energy. Her vocals have a distinctive warble like Smith or Sleater Kinney’s Corin Tucker atop music that has a tough, Velvet Underground edge. Masson cites Lou Reed, Michelle Shocked, R.E.M., Loretta Lynn and Bob Mould as influences.

Hearing these songs, it was my impression that Masson has been doing this for decades, but she only started putting her poems to music after 25 years of raising a family, and credits a chance encounter with Rob Jones’ recording studio for getting this album made. Besides mixing the tracks, Jones himself played electric guitar along with Levi Brown on bass and Mike Beck on drums.

Masson describes the mood of this album as “the culmination of many hours of solitude. This work is about independent thought. It is a study of contrasts; defiant, yet vulnerable. Domesticity collides with romance. These songs protest groupthink and commercial pressures. It is both nostalgic for the old school analogue sounds of the past, as well as modern in its critique of mass media and high tech, wondering: have we really advanced?” 

“the cards I’m dealt” (all Masson’s song titles are lowercase) opens the album with a smoky rocker with double-tracked vocals. The studio band feels cohesive and Jones takes many opportunities to dialogue with Masson’s singing with short blasts of lead guitar. As an engineer, Jones goes for a more of a faux-mono mix instead of spreading the instruments across the speakers, which is probably the right choice for these songs.

“don’t give me anything” strongly evokes the more accessible side of The Velvet Underground and all the bands they influenced. I love the lyric structure that could theoretically go on forever: “Don’t give me anything you want back / Don’t tell me anything you don’t know / Don’t sell me anything you don’t own.” Musically the song sticks to mostly two chords over which Masson tells her story. “hottie in your dreams” is another good song, but would have been better placed elsewhere as it’s musically quite close to the previous track. Still, it’s a fun idea, it’s got a sly, engaging harmony chorus, and the guitars betray some welcome R.E.M. influence. 


The title track “twenty first century mood” has a strong retro musical feel with a modern sensibility to the lyrics. It’s weird for me to have lived through three cycles of this kind of music: the late ’60s (when I was admittedly quite young), the R.E.M. ’80s, and into now. I find this song interesting without necessarily being grabbed by it like the others. Your mileage may vary! “hate is weak” cranks up the tempo for a minor-key rocker with nicely overdubbed guitar breaks. Masson’s vocals seem to stay pretty much on one note for the verses, almost like an Indian drone.

“lucky” begins with the awesome couplet “I’m in favor / of reckless behavior.” This is a seven-minute track with a fairly simple blues structure; it makes me imagine Masson’s songwriting process as strumming single raga-like chords over which she takes all the time she needs to expound her poems and lyrics. Lots of tasteful drum licks by percussionist Mike Beck in this one. “get the hell out of telluride” upends Masson’s style for a more country rock feel, mostly thanks to the slide or lap steel guitars. I like how producer Jones opened up the stereo spread on this track. Masson delivers these vocals sounding fully confident in her delivery. 

​With a debut album, you don’t want to assume an artist has locked into a sound they’ll stick with for the length of their creative life. Masson has a formula that’s working well, though as noted some of these songs do sound somewhat alike. My guess is that Masson might expand her musical palette based on new arrangements and whatever studio opportunities may avail themselves. For the first time out, this is an album of which she can be proud, and should delight listeners who are partial to a more retro style with a strong lyrical viewpoint.

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