Role Model is back on the scene with his newest record, titled Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. Instead of focusing primarily on the breakdown of a relationship, it’s more of an upbeat celebration of singledom while simultaneously wondering if ‘the one’ exists in your future.
Tucker Pillsbury is a big fan of an alter ego, most famously his ‘SaintLaurentCowboy’ persona that he established on social media during the Kansas Anymore era, and Chuck Timely is the second iteration of those. The album opens with ‘Chuck’s Mantra’, which is almost a series of manifestations from the get-go. ‘I am deserving of something real, something true, someday soon’, he promises in the lyrics. It’s not arrogance – he’s casting his dream scenario into existence by convincing himself that worthiness is inherent rather than an earned prize.
It’s followed by the original first single from the album, ‘High Hopes 3000.’ The song could best be described as a certified banger, if we’re being honest. Despite the contradictory themes and somewhat deadpan opening, it’s still the kind of track that makes you want to get up and dance. Incorporating elements of rock and roll, Role Model effortlessly captures a pervasive sense of loneliness even as he floats through the LA nightlife scene. By the time ‘Song Is All You Get’ comes on, the vibes are well and truly established, mixing nostalgia with loss with gratitude into a song about a connection that never quite materialised.
‘Love I You’ may be one of the album’s most interesting moments, and the one that maybe went the most viral before the initial release. Tucker is the king of making things blow up on social media, and when a sultry voice cameo from girlfriend Dakota Johnson was played on the song during a live show, the internet ate it up and absolutely ran with it. The bluesy pop-rock tune centres around being incompetent yet charismatic, and by the time that bridge arrives, fans will be positively swooning.
‘Chasing Midnight’ and ‘Good Thing’ are the centerpieces of the album, with the former a mellow track about a one-night stand, and the latter draws in listeners by detailing the experience of falling in love.
‘Joy’ draws listeners in immediately to a warm, intimate atmosphere that strays away from the overproduction often visible on playlists. Reflecting on personal growth against a backdrop of painful honesty, part of the track’s beauty is the fact that Tucker sounds conversational throughout, almost as if he’s whispering wisdom directly to the listener through the lyrics and consistently levelled instrumentals.
‘Service Receipt’ is a cheeky, tongue-in-cheek song that depicts the desperate attempt to get on with their lives and the failure, as they try, only slightly convincingly, to pick up more than a drink at a bar. Across the course of the song, it shifts from looking outward to the narrator sitting in a room, just waiting for time to pass. It’s full of acoustic-driven instrumentals, including guitars (a bit more standard) and the compelling addition of banjos.
‘Honeydew’ proves that while it’s fun when Role Model tries to lean into this hangover-having, mechanic-doing persona, what connects best to listeners is when he focuses on authenticity and tenderness, like on much of Kansas Anymore. ‘Honeydew’ isn’t relationship-centered – or even relationship adjacent. It’s like Role Model is looking at himself through a lens of tenderness to give his audience the reassurance that he himself once needed in order to carry on.
‘Stain’ is one of the most recognisable tracks from the perspective of ‘yes, that’s classic Role Model.’ Built around lyrics that focus on the resentment that lingers after a relationship ends, it features metaphors like ‘it’s a stain that I’ll never get out / it’s a stain, the kind they warn you about / it’s so vain to be calling the house.’ Some fans view it as a continuation of the narrative present on Kansas Anymore, or at least the same subject matter. It’s one of the album’s few tracks where a connection between his works seems plausible – so much of Chuck Timely focuses on celebrating a new era.
The persona itself of ‘Chuck’ is perhaps clearest at the end, on ‘The Wedding’ and ‘Harmony.’ ‘The Wedding’ is full of soft guitar, warm melodies and a settling around the idea that marriage doesn’t sound like a tragic concept after all, as he attends a friend’s matrimony and watches the philosophies that define his values unravel in a night that’s seemingly ordinary. The instruments also echo the setting, with everything from guitars to percussion to pump organs featuring on the track.
‘Harmony’ is certainly a fun listen as ‘Chuck’ realises that things are working out for him romantically. However, in the fashion of ‘Chuck ’, it also explores the idea that after five years of yearning for something, the fear of loss isn’t easily removed from your psyche. Tucker premiered this track on Jimmy Fallon Tonight, to a rousing audience, and it sounds just as good live as it does in the studio.
If there’s one thing to be definitively said for Role Model, on both Chuck Timely and the Hourglass and Kansas Anymore, it’s that he’s unafraid of experimentation. He’s changed the formula on this record, and it works effortlessly to create a record that’s full of substance and undeniably heartfelt in its subject matters.
