Derek Lind

Item: Stations
Author: Todd Brown

Stations

(1994)

Reviewed by Todd Brown

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Label Someone Up There RecordsThe LighthouseJune 1995

acoustic adult alternative folk singer-songwriter

STO Records (formerly Storyville before they discovered someone else owned the trademark on Storyville) has quickly built itself a reputation for gathering the finest in acoustic music, and is building a growing fan base based on the strength of those it has already gathered. One of the brightest lights in the STO stable is that of Derek Lind, a blues-tinged folk singer from New Zealand. Stations, Lind's second domestic release (his third overall), continues to explore the intelligent, socially-aware writing evident on Slippery Ground, his prior Storyville release.

Lind fits comfortably into a small class of musicians considered, in some circles, to be modern prophets. Others included in this class are Bruce Cockburn, Mark Heard, and Bill Mallonee. Normally, I would be somewhat nervous about making those kinds of comparisons, but Lind can stand up to it. He really is that good.

Lyrically, this effort is somewhat more sedate than previous work. Lind is a family man, and it comes through in songs such as "When the Bough Breaks," "Two Days Away," "My Grandfather," and "The Family Jewels." These explore his concern for his children, the pain of being away from his family, and the value of family over material goods. However, all is not soft, warm, and fuzzy. As Lind says in the liner notes, many of these songs were driven by experiences doing charitable work in the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. "Nothing Looks the Same" attacks the voyeurism of westerners who look unconcerned upon the poverty of the world around them:

This is not a checker board these are paddy fields and fish ponds This is not quaint it stinks and it's ugly.

"First Up" takes aim upon the cheap hypocrisy of Hollywood, and "Lightening Strike" is a startlingly pointed attack upon the Christian music industry:

There's a lightning strike over a Nashville skyline Illuminate the halls of fame Where memories are merchandised For profit and gain ... Don't ask me to explain Those mercenaries for Jesus Living lives so contrary To the things he is.

Lind is one of those rarities of this world--a voice standing alone, observing, and calling out what he sees with startling accuracy. The good he sees is praised and valued, the evil denounced mercilessly. It is a voice crying for integrity in a fallen world, and it is one well worth listening to.