Uncomplicated and plaintive, Whatever Mortal is a sublime album of lo-fi balladeering from American songwriter David Pajo under the name Papa M.

The exact chronology of where this wonderful album falls in David Pajo’s esteemed discography is a little hard to place as he is as creatively restless and prolific as anyone out there. Aside from the iconic Slint, he has also been part of, or contributed to recordings of the likes of; Tortoise, Zwan, Royal Trux and regularly with Will Oldham. By the time Whatever Mortal debuted in the winter of 2001, Pajo had released solo works firstly as M is the Thirteenth Letter, Aerial M (of which we have a superb The Peel Sessions release that has just been pressed) Pajo, and the first rumblings as Papa M.

He is and was always thrilling listening, but Whatever Mortal is a career highwater mark.*
Focused primarily on stringed instruments and vocals (with flashes of organ tones and of drums, including Britt Walford who was Pajo’s bandmate in Slint), the arrangements are simple and hypnotic. Will Oldham and Tara Jane O'Neil appear throughout and there is such wonderful chemistry, a raw and live element with such beautiful warmth and swell around Pajo’s unfussy baritone.

Although deeply rooted in traditionalism and American roots, Whatever Mortal is a beautifully progressive album. There is a little of Steve Reich to the way the minimalist guitar patterns repeat and build, and those builds are all on such incredibly uplifting paths. There is not a moment where the album lulls or stops evolving. Just as the plucks feel sedated, the rhythm changes and a subtle organ (or Sitar!) lift takes the whole sonic palette towards the post rock that he pioneered with Slint. If anything, just as you really get lost in the sound, it all fades away too quickly into smokey light. One of its greatest assets is that it always understays its welcome, it is an album that keeps you going back for more of its enchanting magic.

“Whereas lesser artists might get carried away with such vast instrumentation, Pajo keeps this album beautifully thin and airy”. - Pitchfork 8.6

The first line of the album sets the tone; “I am a whore Wayfaring stranger” he sings on "Over Jordan”, an adaptation of the traditional The Wayfaring Stranger. There is such dark humour that echoes Songs of Leonard Cohen, Bill Callahan’s Smog, Jason Molina as Songs: Ohia or Will Oldham as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, in particular on his rich run of albums released during the same period. On the surface there is a bleakness, but there is a knowing bittersweetness; it is conversational in that way with the odd dirty line amongst confessionals and shared grief.

Full of spooky sorrow and rousing contemporary traditionalism, Whatever Mortal sounds as timeless and odd now as it did in the early winter of 2001. A superb album of lightness and of darkness.





* The double set of Highway Songs (2016) and A Broke Moon Rises (2018) are both extraordinary albums and we highly recommend them too.