Tyler Childers 'Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?' Album Review

Tyler Childers has finally released his long-awaited album, ‘Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?’ It’s been two years since Childers' last LP Long Violent History, and this triple album was worth the wait.

Childers is one to take it up a notch and never fails to deliver. This album is split into three versions: Hallelujah, Jubilee, and Joyful Noise. The “Hallelujah” versions can be described as stripped-down tracks, the “Jubilee” versions are a tighter production sound similar to prior albums, and “Joyful Noise” incorporate experimental sonic textures and sounds.

This is a spiritual album and each song speaks for itself on that. In the title track “Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?” the lines, “Now you tell me that there are streets of gold and angels in the air / Now all that’s fine and dandy and I’m sure it’s nice up there / There’s just one thing that I need to know ‘fore I settle down / Can I take my hounds to heaven / Can I hunt on God’s ground” are thought-provoking and are likely very similar to a question many of us have had before. Childers uses this album to wrestle with his Baptist upbringing and his discovery of the truth and his beliefs.

Not only does this album touch on his journey with religion, but he also shares part of his story with sobriety. In “Way of the Triune God," Childers sings “Jesus said he’d go before / And come back when the house was finished / All this sin and wagin’ war / My God’s comin’ any minute / Old time screamin’ and a shoutin’ / Go up tell it on the mountain / Faith too strong to be left doubtin’ / Way of the triune God.” Aside from his haunting and unique voice that audiences have fallen in love with, his songwriting reflects how much of an intellectual he is, and allows us to go along with the different, and often heavy, topics he ponders.

His ability to bring a new perspective to various subjects is genuinely one of a kind and it's easy to get lost in his words. “Heart You’ve Been Tendin’” wraps up this album perfectly. Towards the end of the song, he says, “It’ll show in your stride and the songs you been singin’ / It’ll give you some pride and then further along / When you’ve left it all / It can help someone else get back to their home / All that you’ll take is the heart you’ve been tendin.'" The track is a touching ending to complete a record that takes you through the journey of deep, intrinsic emotions.

Childers said it best in a statement about the new project, “Message-wise, I hope that people take that it doesn’t matter race, creed, religion and all of that like - the most important part is to protect your heart, cultivate that and make that something useful for the world.” Music can be used as a tool to bring people together and a way to decipher and navigate heavy emotions. This album is a true showcase of that.

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