Christian Lee Hutson’s Album Release Concert for Paradise Pop. 10

 

 

words by Evan Chanksy & photos by Avery Morgan

Christian Lee Hutson might well be your favorite singer-songwriter’s favorite singer-songwriter. He’s written and produced songs for the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Boygenius, Katy Kirby, Charlie Hickey, Samia, and Maya Hawke. Don’t believe me? Check out this written by CLH playlist. 

In that case, your favorite singer-songwriter’s favorite singer-songwriter has a favorite singer-songwriter of their own, and for CLH that would be Jackson Browne. A few days before the show, Browne was announced as the special guest opener with a particular callout to his 1971 song Fountain of Sorrow, which Hutson highlighted as a strong influence for the to be released album. To his own admission, Hutson wishes he writes the songs Browne did, with popular songs Running on Empty and Doctor my Eyes and writing credits on the Eagles’ well known “Take it Easy.”

It’s no surprise Browne’s Fountain of Sorrow was an inspiration to Hutson after seeing Browne perform it. The song has aged well, with the regret marinating on the decades Browne has spent honing his craft at the expense of love as a touring musician: “And while the future’s there for anyone to change / still you know it seems / it’d be easier sometimes to change the past / I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you / In my lessons at love’s pain and heartache school.” These words rang true as an influence on Hutson’s new album. 

The backdrop for the cramped tiny stage is a tapestry with a map of Paradise – population of 10. It outlines a mirror universe that is the setting for the new album the way a map on the inside cover of a fantasy novel does. The South Pasadena Masonic Lodge is a fitting venue for Hutson as many of his past lyrics touch on religious themes.

 

Paradise Pop 10 opens with a soft lyrical intro accompanied by an orchestral cacophony that builds until it breaks for the start of the second track. The album was so new in fact, that CLH forgot the name of the second track and introduced it as “Track 2 … I already forgot what it’s called”. But boy, did this one go off the rails with instrumental swells and a jump scare yell of the new lyrics “jacking me off of a ledge / no you can’t touch me yet”.

Next up was Water Ballet which I saw pre-release in San Francisco last spring, when it was just an unnamed piano ballad. It was raw and melancholy then with just Hutson sitting at a keyboard alone but is now a bit more polished with his full band. It’s a resigned and apologetic tune, fessing up to his central theme of the night that “Life goes on and on and on / even when you want it to stop.” 

Hutson’s been in the tabloids for his relationship with Stranger Things and Inside Out actress Maya Hawke. The two are old friends and developed a romance while CLH produced Hawke’s latest album Chaos Angel. He brought her out to her trademark anxious self-doubt as they prefaced the song with that sometimes when you write a song in a vacuum and then release there’s no telling how others will react to it. They joked they’d have to lock the doors and say no phones as a tongue in cheek jab at artists who take their release shows too seriously. The pair could never be described as the slightest bit self-serious but any concerns in prefacing the song were almost laughable as they launched into easily the best song of the album and the set. Candyland was my favorite both sonically with their joyful singing set to a folksy string arrangement, as well as lyrically with my favorite quip of the album “You dish out all your thrift store wisdom” and the ask “what makes you so sure you want me back?”

The accusation on Flamingoes is “You only think about falling in love; I only think about you” Perhaps the line most emblematic of Huston’s writing style comes on Fan Fiction: “I write fan fiction of life / I could write you a better part”

After Hours was the lead single on the album, which makes sense given the context Hutson introduced it with. He had become obsessed with an unpublished short story on a portrayal of heaven as Americana, which inspired a sleep-deprived writing session on a cross-country flight – hence the album cover band attire of aviator jackets. Hutson’s view of heaven has a “Diet coke fountain, no good Italian, there’s free shuffleboard in the main hall” This guy has writing credits on I Know the End after all, consistent with his mundane portrayal of the supernatural.

Speaking of Phoebe Bridgers, Hutson dedicated the next song Forever Immortalized to his unnamed best friend, which was immediately clear after the lyrical references to reconciling with an absent father, sang about in Bridgers hit Kyoto. 

To close out the album is the pop-punk inspired Beauty School also released as a single. “In a mirror universe, time is moving in reverse, I’m gonna turn my life around, everything is different now”

Breaks between songs were filled with lighthearted banter, emotional honesty undercut by self-deprecating quips – all CLH signatures that usually are the highlight of the show. Having seen, CLH’s band before the banter between songs is one of my favorite parts. However in the context of an album release show, too frequent jokes detracted from the main event of hearing the album for the first time. 

The encore included Hutson’s three most popular songs from his past albums: Lose this number, Rubberneckers, and Northsiders. He addressed the crowd frankly, saying that though it often feels like the world is about to end, it’s probably not, and will keep on ripping for a while.