Ken Pomeroy – Cruel Joke (2025) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Ken Pomeroy – Cruel Joke (2025)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 38:07 minutes | 802 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Rounder

Ken Pomeroy exists in the intersection of past, present and future; effortlessly channeling the ancestral wisdom of her elders and her lived experience through her lyrical and instrumental composition. Writing as a cathartic release has culminated in Pomeroy’s highly anticipated album, Cruel Joke. The 12-track contemporary folk collection creates a wild but safe space of Pomeroy’s own––a space that, like 22-year-old Pomeroy, is brutally honest, proudly Native American, and undeniably brilliant.Unafraid to peer into darkness with the hope of finding answers, Oklahoma songwriter Ken Pomeroy says her music has a “hopeful sadness.” On her second full-length, the strong, high-voiced Pomeroy, who was first influenced by John Denver, and who regularly honors her Cherokee heritage, continues to test her vulnerabilities. With just her acoustic guitar on “Stranger” she sings, “The wind keeps on hitting me like my mother used to/ Unlike her, I feel like it doesn’t want to.” That leads to deeper wondering: “Not once while driving did I think about dying/ That’s new.” Pomeroy’s life as a songwriter got an unexpected boost when two of her songs—”Pareidolia” and “Cicadas”—were featured on the television show Reservation Dogs, co-created by fellow Oklahoman and Native American Sterlin Harjo; both are included here. The former is Cruel Joke’s most upbeat tune. Accompanied by her musical collaborator and life partner Dakota McDaniel on pedal steel, Pomeroy repeats the lines, “I guess a cruel joke is all we can afford.” “Cicadas,” which eloquently cuts deep into the core of Pomeroy’s being, asserts, “I put salt in my wounds just to prove I can do it/ Pretend it’s not burning/ You say I’m concerning you/ The way I’m never learning.” Yet, amid all Pomeroy’s pain and desolation, there are moments when hope or at least positive yearning manages to break through. In “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothes” which tells a cloudy romantic tale, she admits to a past joy (“I’d sacrifice my life or go back to high school just to dance with you/ In the rain”). “Wrango,” her tale of a dog she loves, is laced with fondness. With a melody stronger than the lyrics, “Rodeo Clown” is a fine addition to the catalog of songs written about this intriguing, ambiguous profession that’s known to save lives. John Moreland, another Oklahoman, guests on the album’s strongest track, “Coyote,” where the fearless Pomeroy sings, “I know I’m the coyote/ I bite just ‘cause I’m scared” and finds strength in sorrow. – Robert Baird

Tracklist:

1-1. Ken Pomeroy – Pareidolia (02:20)
1-2. Ken Pomeroy – Wolf In Sheep’s Clothes (03:25)
1-3. Ken Pomeroy – Wrango (02:16)
1-4. Ken Pomeroy – Rodeo Clown (02:20)
1-5. Ken Pomeroy – Coyote (03:50)
1-6. Ken Pomeroy – Stranger (03:25)
1-7. Ken Pomeroy – Dogs Die (02:01)
1-8. Ken Pomeroy – Grey Skies (03:20)
1-9. Ken Pomeroy – Flannel Cowboy (04:20)
1-10. Ken Pomeroy – Days Getting Darker (04:10)
1-11. Ken Pomeroy – Cicadas (04:06)
1-12. Ken Pomeroy – Innocent Eyes (02:29)

Download from filejoker.net: