“Alex Catchings, on his album Off-Ramp, transforms his years of uncertainty, old memories, and unexpected detours into songs which have a quietly personal and deeply lived-in feeling.”
There is a great deal of honesty in Alex Catchings’ *Off-Ramp*. The album doesn’t appear to have been created by someone who was trying to prove a point; rather, it seems as if a songwriter has at last allowed himself the permission to take his music seriously after having kept it to himself for so many years. During his adult life Catchings was involved in academia, obtaining his Ph.D. in literature from UC Berkeley and then going on to teach at the University of Washington. Throughout all that he kept on writing songs and playing the guitar, and those experiences eventually found their way into *Off-Ramp*. The title song presents the album’s main idea: an off-ramp stands for leaving the main road, and that image matches exactly with Catchings’ story. His journey into music was not direct; instead he moved from one city to another, changed universities, had various relationships, and went through different stages of life before finally ending up in Seattle. The song seems to be a reflection on that experience. It doesn’t contain a major statement saying that everything has been worked out; rather, it conveys the sensation of finally moving away from the route you had always thought you were meant to stay on. The song titled ‘Borderline’ adds a greater sense of tension to the record. It aligns with the album’s concern with uncertainty and emotional distance by expressing that uneasy position in which something in your life doesn’t quite feel settled. Catchings has the ability to present those feelings in a conversational way rather than making them seem excessively dramatic, and his more subdued vocal delivery is particularly effective in this case since it makes the listener feel as if they are hearing someone thinking out loud.
The song entitled ‘Mongrel’ introduces a new dimension to the album; it has a rougher and more restless character, and the title alone implies a complex sense of identity. This theme is linked with the main ideas explored in *Off-Ramp*, where Catchings frequently seems concerned with the aspects of ourselves that don’t fit easily into a single category. Since his life has involved a variety of activities including music, literature, education and different locations, the album reflects this variety. The album ‘Sisyphus (Young Mountain)’ is especially noteworthy since its title recalls the continuous effort of pushing something up a hill only to have to start all over again. This kind of feeling matches the album’s thoughts about loneliness, relationships, and the various times we try to work out where we’re going. Rather than viewing struggle as some great dramatic occasion, Catchings finds it in the everyday repetition of life. “Paperback Book” has a slow pace and allows the songwriting a great deal of room. The song was produced by Tomo Nakayama, a musician from Seattle, and it shows just how much Catchings places importance on the details within a song. It is not necessary for the arrangement to become overwhelming. The words and melody stay at the centre, a feature that is appropriate for an artist influenced by Elliott Smith, Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan Stevens, and Sam Beam. There’s also ‘Bargain Basement’, one of the most interesting tracks on the album since it goes all the way back to Catchings’ teenage years; he first wrote the song when he was seventeen, well before *Off-Ramp* was created. Listening to it now, in this later stage of his life, gives the song a new significance and makes it into a kind of meeting between the person Catchings was and the person he eventually became. The songs entitled “Stew” and “Medication” take the album back in the direction of its more reflective aspect; the titles imply ordinary experiences rather than grand themes, and it is this which gives the record a personal feel. Catchings doesn’t always aim to make profound statements; instead he lets ordinary life, loneliness, memory and uncertainty suffice.
The two final tracks, “On-Ramp” and “Like the Nineties”, are particularly revealing. “On-Ramp” was developed in part to deal with a practical issue concerning streaming, but it also imparts a feeling that the record is moving into and out of a broader context. As for “Like the Nineties”, it takes us back to Catchings’ younger days and his early enthusiasm for guitar music; he first thought of the song as a bonus track, something similar to a concealed final item on an older CD or vinyl record. This notion gives the conclusion a touch of playful nostalgia which contrasts well with the more serious sections elsewhere. The album *Off-Ramp* contains a great deal of history but doesn’t come across as if it were a biography set to music. Instead of using his experiences to explain them, Catchings employs those experiences as material. The outcome is a series of songs concerning growing older, losing people, moving cities, questioning oneself, remembering who one used to be, and in the end coming to terms with the fact that life seldom follows the path you had planned. The other musicians also allow these songs space to unfold. Ruslan Sirota, who has won a Grammy, produced most of the album, and Ryan Lerman, Chaun Horton and Goh Nakamura took part in the arrangements. Their performance brings a sense of warmth and intricacy without drawing attention away from Catchings’ songwriting. What is special about *Off-Ramp* is the fact that it is at ease with remaining unshowy. Catchings doesn’t have to make a big deal of things in order for his songs to be significant; instead, he allows the little moments to build up. When the last notes come, the album seems less like a commentary on becoming a musician and more like a reminder that at times the route we nearly overlooked is the one which leads us to a place worth staying in.
English