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Charles W Hammell Jr brings us not just a song but takes us on a brightly colored memories trip with “USA.” From the get-go, “USA” is like opening an old photo album, sun-faded edges, laughter from afar, warm memory, and Hammell’s voice right there, as if streamlining between past and present.
“USA” does not reinvent the genres it traffics in, but who needs a reinvention when you have nailed something so universal and true? Hammell’s song is a reminder of what music at its best can achieve. It transports, uplifts, and connects. Memories here aren’t sadness, it’s a celebration. And Hammell rouses that celebration to read and stick, real. Influenced by a wistful daydream of pure freedom, Hammell acknowledges he just wanted to record something honest in the process, though he stumbled into something a little magical. From the guitar’s leisurely strum to the heartbeat punch of the beat that never seems hurried, every note, every chord feels soaked in that joyous freedom. It’s music as it is happening, improvised, sincere, alive.
Most striking is Hammell’s casual energy. His passion isn’t buffed to a high sheen, it’s ragged edges and wacky digressions, as in road trips where nothing matters but the open road and the wind through the windows. And when he sings, you believe him. When he plays, you get the sense that maybe you’re right there with him on some nameless sweep of freedom in your lungs.
For all who are hungry for a song as basic and full, familiar and strange, “USA” is Hammell’s valentine to that moment we’ve already been in the thick of pretty often now, and about every one we have yet to tread its surface with. That’s a little anthem of freedom, and sometimes, that’s all we want.