The Associated Press“A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next,” Chris Robley (Cutthroat Pop Records)

‘A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next,’ Chris Robley

Chris Robley’s music is beautiful when it’s angry.

The Maine-based singer-songwriter bemoans the state of the nation on “A Filament in the Wilderness of What Comes Next,” a seven-song collage of characters vexed and perplexed by a society in decline.

Robley’s weighty words — he’s an award-winning poet — are made even more powerful because they’re paired with equally engrossing melodies. It makes for the loveliest kind of blues regarding disparity, hypocrisy, racism and American retreat in a foreign land.

As a testament to Robley’s craftsmanship, the two longest songs are the best. The album opens with “American Dreams,” a 7-minute survey of the country’s contradictions, and closes with “Filament,” an even longer lament. The two songs serve as towering bookends, and on each lead vocal, Robley takes turns with Anna Tivel and Margaret Gibson Wehr, a democratic decision that fits the narrative.

The melodies are as effortlessly irresistible as an old folk song. Robley’s music asks: Can we overcome?

— The Associated Press