Born from a period of restlessness and turmoil, Family Dollar sees Nelson Kempf unflinchingly examine the stresses of modern family life.
Kempf spent weeks at a time away from his loved ones in Tennessee working as a welder on the Arctic tundra. The sounds of both locations are present (a marimba evoking the tropical haze of the South, while dense soundscapes replicate the solitude of the north) but lyrically, Kempf’s focus is on the emotional.
A delicate harp ushers in opener Sweetness & Strife; a dreamlike quality shining through as Kempf details both the external and internal: “A soft light bends over the building / And I break down and cry.” On Hourglass, he offers frank ruminations on parenting: “Now I make it up as I go along / when I try to plan it all goes wrong.”
Despite the darkness, the album often exudes an air of calm and peace, perhaps thanks to his family reuniting in Alaska. His creative energy settling, Kempf then turned 10 years of iPhone notes into this short but sweet collection.
