Recommended Tracks: “High Hopes 3000,” “Chasing Midnight,” “Honeydew”
Artists You May Like: Malcolm Todd, Ryan Beatty, Balu Brigada
Under the guise of an alter ego, ROLE MODEL loiters around a bar, flirting, ruminating, and ultimately finding hope again on his third album, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass, released August 7.
ROLE MODEL, the stage name of Tucker Pillsbury, hides under yet another layer of disguise as Chuck Timely in this twangy pop concept album. Twelve songs filled with janky guitar and catchy choruses envision a self-pitying protagonist seeking answers at the bottom of a glass or among the wrong people. A running hourglass shifts from an alarming reminder of time slipping away into a realization that more life and opportunities lie ahead.
ROLE MODEL’s introspective storytelling allows his own stories to peek through the cracks of Chuck Timely’s character. In his previous album, Kansas Anymore, ROLE MODEL struck gold with hits like “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” and “Deeply Still In Love.” However, with this new record, ROLE MODEL didn’t attempt to recreate the viral nature of those singles or release regurgitated versions of them.
The album opens with “Chuck’s Mantra,” in which ROLE MODEL softly prays for a better outlook over a church-like choir. He manifests his hopes of a calm life in a rural city.
Singles “High Hopes 3000” and “Joy” share a sonically similar country-pop fusion with “Sally…,” tied together through a chanting bridge. In the former, he sings the question, “Does love come around, or does one come around to it?”, echoing how he changes his perspective throughout the album. Cowboy charm shimmers through these tracks with honky-tonk guitar slides.
A man’s version of Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Go Go Juice” arrives in “Love I You,” where ROLE MODEL slurs through the three-word phrase he still can’t get a grasp on. The pop singer’s rumored current girlfriend Dakota Johnson hops on, as the two seductively purr flirtatious lines around each other. Messy bar crowds come to life as the track ends in a ruckus of girls screaming “Chug, chug, chug!”
Chuck Timely’s night comes to a shift in “Chasing Midnight,” during which he surrenders the idea of a perfect love and instead tinkers with allowing the potential of something failing. Light snare taps hold down ROLE MODEL’s pensiveness as he crafts a picture of a carefree night out with a lover.
A similar positive musing continues in “Good Thing.” ROLE MODEL’s voice carries loudly over soft snares and a tickling electric guitar as he sings, “I’m questioning everything / Do I close the door? / Or let you in? / But to my surprise / It’s a good thing.”
In “Honeydew,” the singer offers a rare reassurance to the other person in the relationship. No longer holding onto his own anxieties, he’s possibly healed from his own experiences with self-sabotage. The soaring hymn calms the listener as he repeats that “We’ll be alright.”
Chuck comes out of a friend’s ceremony in “The Wedding,” and the celebration of love helps re-spark optimism in his own life. He draws an image of how the couple showed him it’s not too late to find his own person and happiness.
Ending in “Harmony,” ROLE MODEL wonders at how he’s been able to come out of an experience with lessons and aspirations for his future. The track rings like a church anthem, complete with a full choir, shaking tambourines, and splashing cymbal hits. Chuck’s character, and ultimately ROLE MODEL himself, has found peace with his position in life, singing, “Settle into some harmony / Maybe this is what love looks like / It took forever but now I see / It’s harmony.”
With a uniform storyline imbued with sharp visuals of the brooding-turned-hopeful Chuck Timely, ROLE MODEL’s third album cements the artist as one making art true to his tastes. Leaning into his own pace, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass delivers a catchy and reflective pendulum of feelings that inspires the perseverance to keep going.
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