MJ Lenderman’s ‘Him’: Nine Tracks, 36 Minutes, and Grief That Never Rushes

MJ Lenderman’s Him is a slow-burning country record built on atmosphere and patience. Nine tracks, 36 minutes, and a sound that leans heavily on the heavy, mournful country of Jason Molina while Lenderman’s own writing stays plainspoken and candid. The album doesn’t rush anywhere. It sits in the spaces between the notes, letting grief and memory settle over the listener without ever reaching for a big climax.

Track by Track

“Boys” opens the record with a quiet, almost conversational tone, setting the stage for what follows. “Bobby” picks up the pace slightly, a brief, sharp character sketch that shows Lenderman’s gift for quick, vivid observation. “Ghost” slows everything down again, a five-minute meditation that earns its runtime through repetition and restraint.

“Dead Eyes” is the emotional core of the early stretch. Its title sets the scene, and the song delivers on that promise, building to a chorus that lands with real weight. “Buster” shifts gears into something closer to folk-rock, with a rolling rhythm that keeps the album from settling into a single mood. “Interlude” is exactly what it says: a breather, a minute and a half of quiet that lets the record catch its breath before the final push.

“Pirate” brings back the narrative drive, a story-song about a restless spirit that feels like one of the record’s strongest moments. “Peter Pan” slows things down again, a four-minute portrait that rewards attention without demanding it. “Gatlinburg” closes the album at seven and a half minutes, the longest track here, and it earns every second of its length through careful arrangement and restraint.

What Works

The tracks that stand out are the ones that balance Lenderman’s plainspoken delivery with his heaviest subject matter. “Dead Eyes,” “Pirate,” and “Gatlinburg” are the three that best capture what makes this record special: a voice that can sit in sorrow without drowning in it.

The shorter tracks — “Bobby,” “Interlude,” “Peter Pan” — serve a useful function. They keep the album from becoming monolithic, letting the bigger songs breathe by providing space around them. That balance is part of what makes the record work as a whole.

Verdict

The album’s flaws are minor and easy to overlook. A few tracks feel like they could be tighter, but none of them drag the album down. The sequencing is smart, and the album’s quiet power comes from how it builds across its nine tracks rather than from any single moment.

Him is a strong record that knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s a record about loss, memory, and the quiet spaces between people, and it finds its best expression in the songs that let the silence do some of the work.