The human psyche is programmed to take comfort from things that are familiar. That plays out in the new record from Sarah Borges, Together Alone. She, and long-time collaborator Eric (Roscoe) Ambel, took the chaos of the pandemic, stitched together an impossible-to-repeat remote recording routine, and produced a record that’s just the Sarah Borges music needed to keep the craziness at bay a little bit longer.
The album opens with Wasting My Time, a pandemic-inspired rock ballad with a sense of foreboding when Borges asks, “what happens now, when all the lights go out, and all the bills need paying.” The song also sets the tone for several other cuts, like the title track, a rock waltz that pretty well described life for a while with its “I don’t like living this way” statement. Borges’ part-time job during the shut down delivered some relevant experience for She’s A Trucker, and like most of the album is well-lit with Ambel’s guitar skills.
Lucky Day equates finding love with playing the lottery and is mosh pit dance music at its finest. You Got Me On the Boat resulted from an outstanding experience Borges and Ambel had on an outlaw country cruise. Rock and Roll Hour is sort of a love song to the passion of being a musician. No sacrifice is too great for that time playing for friends and fans. The tune starts with a calypso sound that sets a little party atmosphere before the blue collar reality of a driving rock and roll number sets in.
If you’ve been to a Sarah Borges show you know there’s no sitting back and chilling. She takes the stage and generates an irresistible urge to move and pretty soon everyone is sweaty and smiling. That’s rock and roll stardom at the club level. Together Alone adds considerably to the repertoire she can call on during one of those shows and gives you a great teaser while you’re waiting for touring to come back.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.