Jerome Forde is an American singer-songwriter hailing from the upper Midwest. He is the first American to sign with the venerable indie label (weewerk) based out of Toronto and widely known for its work with artists like Great Lake Swimmers, Art Bergmann, and The Burning Hell.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Forde began writing songs at a young age. At eighteen, he fell in love with a girl, left his hometown, and spent the next decade and a half traveling, studying mystical philosophy, and starting a family. Fed up with what he describes as the theo-fascist drift of the American church, Forde abruptly abandoned his brief stint as an ordained minister and moved with his wife and children to the wooded shores of northern Michigan, where he began writing songs again.

The 2023 release of Forde's self-titled debut was met with critical acclaim. To cite a few examples: Glide Magazine referred to it as introducing "a vital new voice on the Americana scene," The Big Takeover as a feat of "pure songwriting," Americana UK as simply "gorgeous," Roots Music Canada as an album "you need to hear," Prism Reviews as an "expertly-crafted indie country record," and Wildfire Music as a collection of "carefully crafted" songs that "capture a wealth of musical tradition as well as universal human emotion."

The follow-up to his acclaimed self-titled debut is Jerome Forde's Wintertide Blues: another tour de force of pure songwriting. From the plush, Beach Boys-style harmonies of its opener to the bold and dynamic instrumentation of its subsequent tracks, Forde's impressive sophomore effort is a must-hear collection of gritty love songs--as bitter as they are sweet. There is a quiet desperation to them, like that of a man who has lost love (and maybe even his mind). But this desperation is never alone, always accompanied by an even greater hope in love's return: "Still I wait for what might never be / Callin' out your name across the sea / Darlin', return, return to me."

Pulling from a variety of musical styles and songwriting traditions, the 11 tracks of this new record are a relentless blend of lyrical candor, inventive composition, and hopelessly contagious melody.

Forde makes uncommon use of symbolism in his lyrics. Instead of leading the listener away from the world to something "beyond" it, Forde employs symbols in a simple, straightforward way that brings us down deep to earth, as in the record's opening vocal line: "As the shadows fall / in the dark I call / for you / for you." Or later on: "Spent the day / watchin' the rain / fall from the sky / And if it turns into waves / and all drowns away / I won't leave your side." Or again, on the album's final track: "When the leaves are turnin' brown / and the sun is goin' down / when the colors fade to gray / I wanna hear you say / 'All along....You were mine all along.'"

A diversity of instruments (all of which are played by Forde) permeates the entire record: acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, ukulele, bell set, drums, bass, keyboard, harmonica, etc. Not only does the layering of these diverse instruments provide an aesthetically pleasing sound to the record as a whole, it also lends an undeniable energy to each track, making it almost impossible to stop listening.

The songs included on Wintertide Blues are as diverse as its instrumentation. There are times when the record pursues the sort of driving rhythms and sonorous vocal harmonies of Fleet Foxes, the Deslondes, or Big Thief, as heard on tracks like Mistaken for the Dead, Return To Me, and Maria. At other times the record takes a more up-close and intimate approach, clearly influenced by singer-songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, or Kris Kristofferson, as heard on tracks like Alyson, It's Hard to Find Love, I Know Where You Go, and All Along.

While the seventh track All I Know (Is I Want You) calls to mind the sort of eclectic Americana found in the likes of Beck or Elvis Perkins, the intricate fingerpicking found on the second track, Don't You Cry (along with the arrestingly beautiful fourth track, A Thousand Floods), has all the fragile charm and emotional intensity of an Elliott Smith ballad: "Been tryin' to write a song for you / and I know it's not the one I'm singin' to / but it'll do until tomorrow."

All in all, Wintertide Blues is an album that cannot be ignored. But be warned: these songs will, from the first listen, take up permanent residency in your head and refuse to leave. Which turns out to be a wonderful problem to have, since you won't want them living anywhere else.