A distinguishing feature of singer/songwriter albums is their power to connect listeners with stories personal to the artists.
Until When We Are Ghosts is a haunting and affecting work that achieves this goal by recognizing the needs of both the listener and the songwriter.
While some singer/songwriters come off as self-indulgent, singing for themselves, Fitzsimmons is always in dialogue as he pieces through his stories. He sings to a troubled friend on “When You Were Young”, a lost loved one on “My Life Unchanged" and a promising lover on “Forsake All Others.” This allows him to take on the role of the reassuring companion while also granting him the space to be vulnerable and open. His songwriting perfectly plays to this dynamic; the songs each carry a certain message but are loosely structured to allow lengthier moments of lyrical introspection.
The most arresting aspect of Fitzsimmons’ lyrics is their simplicity; he does not lace up his stories with elaborate metaphors but rather presents them with casual directness, furthering the impact of his words. Sentiments such as “just want to be better than my friends might say” and “Mom wants you to come back home, she keeps crying when I call her on the phone” appear as thoughts laid out in conversations, unaffected by the needs of lyricism. This honesty is matched by his breathy drawl, always affected and never complacent. It is loaded with the weight of experience, of troubled feelings and fervent memories. The evocative guitar strums and warm melodies complete the vision of his work.
Fitzsimmons achieves with his debut the rare singer/songwriter album that gives back to the artist just as much as it gives back to the listener. These songs are clearly responses to specific events and specific people, serving as closure and much needed catharsis for Fitzsimmons. But he creates his art in broad strokes, deliberately leaving spaces in his moments of reflection, hoping that the listener will find it in them to fill in the gaps.
