There are several exceptional albums inspired by loss, such as Leonard Cohen's "Thanks for the Dance," Arcade Fire's "Funeral" and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Ghosteen."
Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night" is the project that most resembles Jeffrey Foucault's latest album, “The Universal Fire,” which dropped in September.
After Neil Young's Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten and his friend Bruce Berry both died within weeks of each other from drug overdoses, the rock icon was devastated and wrote and recorded an album's worth of songs that are among his most raw and intense.
Foucault, 48, was heartbroken when his close friend, drummer and frequent collaborator Billy Conway died after battling cancer in 2021. The tandem hit the road as a duo for more than a decade either as a duo or as part of a full band. Foucault dealt with the pain by writing a collection of moving songs, many inspired by the loss of the former Morphine drummer.
"Part of the deal in life is that you might lose somebody," Foucault said while calling from his Massachusetts home. "Billy got sick and the pandemic happened. Between those two things we couldn't go out and play. Most of the songs deal directly with Billy's illness and death from cancer."
Songs about death shakes listeners up since it's not a topic most Americans focus on. "It's funny because dying is a part of life," Foucault said. " It's a fact of life. But it's something we avoid. It's not profitable. But you have to come to terms with it at some point."
Foucault and Conway, who died at 65, had no choice but to deal with it. When the pair were on tour in 2018, Foucault and Conway were touring behind the album "Blood Brothers." Something wasn't right with Conway during a European jaunt.
"When we came home Billy went to the doctors and had major abdominal surgery to get a tumor out of his belly," Foucault said. "He started the first rounds of chemo and radiation. He soldiered his way through that and got a clean bill of health."
Conway was doing well during a tour in 2019, but his cancer recurred in 2020, and then the pandemic hit. In 2020, Conway prioritized his quality of life and purchased a farmhouse from the 1780s in Massachusetts. "He lived 70 miles away from me, and we would work on his property, feed horses, and stack firewood," Foucault recalled. "We spent a lot of time together during that last year of his life."
The moving song "Night Shift" sounds like it could have been part of Young's "Tonight's the Night." That classic album had an impact on Foucault.
"Tonight's the Night" was a rock ‘n’ roll record," Foucault. "It wasn't about pretty folk songs or dirges. It has that rock and roll sharpness, but it's delivered in a very ragged manner, which I love."
Every song on “The Universal Fire” addresses loss from a different direction. "East of the Sunrise" is a particularly compelling tune. "I wrote that song from another person's perspective," Foucault said. "I had a picture in my head of a woman trying to get away from the life she was living and what she wanted to do."
One of the heaviest songs is the title track, inspired by the 2008 fire on the Universal Studios backlot, which destroyed the master tapes of thousands of historically significant songs. The loss of some of the most beloved songs of all time was devastating. The master recordings of more than 100,000 songs were destroyed in the fire. Songs by icons such as John Coltrane, Judy Garland, Count Basie, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holiday went up in smoke.
"There was a time when it all seemed we might all be redeemed/But one night it all burned away in the Universal fire," Foucault sings.
"This album is about what it means to lose things, and what legacy you leave behind," Foucault said.
When Foucault performs Sunday, Feb. 2, at Club Congress and Tuesday, Feb. 4, at the Musical Instrumental Museum, the show will start and finish with songs from "The Universal Fire." Foucault will select about five songs from his other albums. "I can't help but be most into the latest album," Foucault said. "It's tough coming up with a setlist but I always figure it out."
It's evident that Foucault was influenced by the late, legendary songwriter Townes Van Zandt. "Townes was my private obsession from when I was 18-22 years old," Foucault said. "I was hanging out with Rodney Crowell last week, and I told him that I saw him during the late '90s doing a tribute to Townes Van Zandt, and it was just so moving to me."
When speaking about other influential songwriters, Foucault looked ahead at huge losses in the not-too-distant future. "Willie (Nelson) and Bob (Dylan) will die at some point. Neil (Young) and Greg Brown will be gone within the next five or ten years. That's just what happens in life. You eventually die and those living have to deal with it."
Jeffrey Foucault
WHEN:7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 2
WHERE: Club Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, Tucson
PRICE:$20 in advance and $25 day of show.
INFO: hotelcongress.com
WHEN:7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4
WHERE: Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix
PRICE:$33.50 in advance and $38.50 day of show.
INFO: mim.org