His Name is Alive mastermind Warren Defever bookended (with a bookmiddle for added support) his band’s breakthrough record with three different versions of a song loosely based on the classic country gospel jam “This World is Not my Home.” Now, when, say Hank Williams sings about how this world is not his home, the home he’s talking about is his post-rapture mansion in heaven. If the rest of this record is any indication, Defever’s home seems to be some strange and distant planet where Bryan Wilson is revered as a god. The first version of Home on Stars on E.S.P. features fuzzed out guitars mixed with gentler acoustic sections, although here the rollicking fingerpicking brings the source material to mind. The second version belongs with with the weirdo pop that dominates the rest of the record, but keeps that same descending down-homey lick front and center. The straight up satin-robed old time gospel vocal harmonies on the version that closes the album, in context, make this track sound like church music from space. All that’s missing is a levitating organ and a fat man in a purple suit playing a fretless hyperbass. This song, done three ways, will form the centerpiece of a future rant delivered to my children and/or grandchildren about how much they’ve been missing out on since the death of the album.* NOTE: Since they are essentially the same song, I’m treating Defever’s three versions as one for the purposes of this blog.
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