The phrase Joy Is Elusive appeared in Matthew Carlson’s head one day, and the Harborcoat singer/songwriter/guitarist wrote it in black Sharpie on a piece of paper and tacked it to the wall above his studio computer. Those words became a conceptual signpost for the Harborcoat’s sophomore album, aptly titled, Joy Is Elusive.
“Not that joy doesn’t happen, or that we can’t find a lot joy in life and work, but it seems it can be difficult to find these moments and hard work to sustain them,” the Lansing, Michigan artist shares. “I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety all my life and it has always crept into my songwriting as a sort of veiled subtext. With this new batch of songs, I made a conscious effort to write about it more directly. They aren’t mopey or deliberately maudlin, but I think during these times people are feeling a lot of anxiety, depression, and they have been grappling with isolation. These topics are part of the human condition.”
Matthew is the main songwriter in Harborcoat. Previously, he led The Pantones for more than a decade, and currently he writes songs and plays and sings in Lansing power pop outfit, The Stick Arounds. In addition, he is the owner and operator of Phonophore Records.
Harborcoat began as a songwriting outlet for Matthew in 2016 for output that didn’t fit with The Stick Arounds. The vision was initially a bedroom artistic venture, but a dear friend suggested Matthew make a real record, and Harborcoat became a functioning band that plays shows and records with an ever-evolving cast of musicians. Previously, Harborcoat issued the 2017 single, “See The Sun,” and the 2019 full-length, Brutal Gravity.
Harborcoat specialize in short stories with chords. The lyrics are novelistic and almost standalone pieces rife with emotive and well-crafted narratives. The band name is pulled from an early R.E.M. gem, and the music brims with nods to Matthew’s heroes. The songs recall the crunchy power pop and harmonies of Teenage Fanclub; the introspection and melodic storytelling of Billy Bragg; and sprinkled in are moments of 80’s esque Brit-Pop or working-class anthems. These influences, however, do not define the record, but they are merely a strand of DNA in Harborcoat’s collective musical helix.
New single, Help Me Out Somehow, is a rousing dose of English pop-rock that recalls the Smiths, 1980s new wave, and the 1990s Brit-pop invasion. The song burns with the urgency of that moment you realize you’re in deep in a depression, and you want help to get out. The verses are reflective and insightful. One choice evocative passage is: Seem to spend my time just staring into space / Curious as to why I wound up here / Was it a fatal flaw, or just bad luck / When did my good fortune disappear?The chorus has a pent-up emotionality and features the pleading refrain: Help me please, so I can find the river now / Won’t you help me out somehow.
“With all of these songs, I wanted to tap into the stories and feelings of those left on the margins and forgotten—weighted down by poverty, addiction, mental illness, or simply just being at the wrong place during the wrong time,” Matthew says. “The people who are hanging on by a thread. We don’t talk about these people unless they redeem themselves or become negative examples.”
