Score: 3/5
Kansas Anymore, ROLE MODEL’s sophomore album, released in July of last year, but the indie singer just surprised his fans with four new songs.
Released on Feb. 14, Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye) is the deluxe version of Tucker Pillsbury’s second studio album. Known professionally as ROLE MODEL, Pillsbury has released a variety of songs across a multitude of genres during his time in the music industry. However, it’s the quieter, more sentimental sound he developed on the original version of Kansas Anymore that has brought the singer a larger degree of success. Pillsbury expanded on this particular musicality in the four new bonus tracks — “Old Recliners,” “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” “Some Protector” and “The Longest Goodbye” — that were released on Feb. 14.
While it is often clear why songs released on an album’s deluxe version weren’t included in the original, the new material included in Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye) intertwines well with the album’s initial 13 tracks.
The quiet simplicity of “Old Recliners” and “Some Protector” expertly matches the melancholic nostalgia in track five, “Frances,” and track 13, “Something, Somehow, Someday.” In an effort to parallel the multifaceted zeal displayed on the original album, the lively energy displayed in the upbeat tempo of “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” while new and fresh, is also cohesive with the bright vivacity displayed in tracks like “Superglue” and “Deeply Still In Love.”
Because of this, the four songs included on Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye) feel as though they belonged on the original album all along.
The first bonus song, “Old Recliners,” continues the story of the heartbreak that followed the end of Pillsbury’s relationship with internet star Emma Chamberlain, which the singer laid out in the original version of the record. While it’s not the best of the four extra tracks, “Old Recliners” is lyrically impressive. Pillsbury nails the more narrative lyrical style that he’s adopted, leaning into the type of musical storytelling popular in country music.
Still, the instrumental backdrop introduced at the beginning of the track doesn’t change throughout the body of the work, leaving the listener underwhelmed. This lack of star quality impacts the re-listenability of the track and suggests that while “Old Recliners” isn’t necessarily a bad track, it could have used a little more work before it made its debut.
“Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” the second bonus song, was long anticipated by Pillsbury’s fans. The singer has been playing the track during his current tour and a snippet of the outro recently went semi-viral on TikTok, making it the most anticipated addition included in Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye).
This upbeat track displays a new sound for Pillsbury, featuring a ragged guitar line and a snare-heavy rhythm section. While “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out” still shows off the singer’s narrative lyrical style, the sonic atmosphere it creates is fresh and new, causing fans to excitedly hypothesize about where the singer is going to take his musical sound next. If his next body of work is anything like “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out,” Pillsbury is heading for a bright future.
A quieter, more introspective track, “Some Protector” reflects on the love Pillsbury still holds for his former lover. The song’s slightly southern-sounding twang and heartfelt, emotional lyrics easily align with tracks like “Oh, Gemini” and “Slut Era Interlude,” allowing this third bonus track to fit well with the sonic atmosphere the musician developed in the original version of Kansas Anymore. While the track doesn’t exude any undeniable wow factor, its cohesive sound still makes it a good addition to the record.
The final bonus song, “The Longest Goodbye,” is arguably the most well-received of the four tracks included on Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye).
Following the release of the song, Pillsbury’s fans quickly pounced on the warm yet melancholic nostalgia that the track expertly exudes. In fact, many people online have lovingly compared the song to something that belongs on one of Disney’s Toy Story movie soundtracks. Even Pillsbury himself commented on this similarity in a recent TikTok on his second account, “saintlaurentcowboy.” The video, which featured a close-up of Pillsbury’s face with “The Longest Goodbye” playing over top, was captioned “toy story mf.”
The twangy acoustic guitar, delicate dancing piano melodies and mournful trumpet harmony in the track are easy to fall in love with. Furthermore, Pillsbury’s beautiful, metaphorical lyricism teeters between making the listener feel warm and fuzzy inside and delivering a devastating blow to their heart. Easily the best of the four bonus tracks, “The Longest Goodbye” is some of Pillsbury’s finest work and will be remembered as such in the years to come.
While the four bonus songs included on the record aren’t all showstoppers, they are still beautiful additions to the masterpiece that was the original.