St. Lenox - Ten Modern American Work Songs (2024) Hi-Res

Andrew Choi doesn’t claim to have all of the answers when it comes to talking about work in America. But if anyone is uniquely well positioned to raise questions, it’s him. Over the course of two decades, the Midwest-born, New York-based singer-songwriter—who performs under the name St. Lenox—has been a musician, a clothing store employee, an underpaid graduate student and scholar, and a salaried corporate attorney. This tremendous amount of experience—and all of the observations therein—is channeled into Andrew’s latest album as St. Lenox, the bracing, autobiographical, and resonant Ten Modern American Work Songs, due out Oct 25 on Don Giovanni Records / Anyway Records.

Like many Millennials and Gen-Xers, Andrew grew up with the narrative that quality work and education would eventually lead to personal salvation and provide a path to upward mobility. To that end, Andrew became a pillar of achievement: flying to New York City to study violin at Julliard on weekends as a teenager, earning a PhD in philosophy in his 20s, attending law school and working in Manhattan at a law firm, while simultaneously grappling with the struggles of modern working life: low wages, massive student debt, and burnout.

Ten Modern American Work Songs, which is dedicated to the 10-year Reunion of the NYU Law Class of 2014, is in conversation with all of these subjects as Andrew examines topics such as graduate student unions, professional jealousy, the importance of rest and life fulfillment. “I want the record to be a snapshot of work life in modern times,” he says. “I try my best to provide a kind of realism in that I want the listener to come away with a vivid feeling of what it's like to work these days. Because ultimately that kind of realism is motivating to people on an ethical and political level.”

Reexamining work the way 2021’s Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for our Tumultuous Times sought to evaluate the artist’s journey with religion, the self-produced Ten Modern American Work Songs features 10 richly rendered tracks with Andrew’s stark yet earnest vocals at front and center.

Andrew started ideating a work-themed record soon after writing “Lust For Life,” which enters the fray with mournful organ notes and asserts: I deserve much better than this life of mere subsistence and debt. “My time in graduate school was spent getting a full appreciation of how the American economy does not value the Humanities,” Andrew says. “It's almost like the system takes advantage of you, because it knows that you love something so much. You’re in a situation where you're like, ‘This is a trade off. I'm going to do something that I love, but I have to sacrifice my general enjoyment of life.”

Another early highlight is the shimmering, wryly celebratory “Courtesan,” which reflects on Andrew’s pivot from PhD to law student—another tradeoff where he decided to aim for a higher-paying profession at the expense of a quarter-million dollars in debt and no guarantee of a job at the end. Andrew says. “I'm happy with how things are now, but, oh my God. It frightens me. It seemed like more of a guarantee at the beginning of school—of course we're all going to achieve our dreams. Now, looking at the other end, I see that it was hugely risky. It could have ended up disastrously.’”

Another turning point occurs on the meditative “Kalahari,” which captures a rare moment of peace. Set at a water park in Sandusky, Ohio, “Kalahari” takes us back to a trip Andrew went on as he worked to finish his graduate school dissertation. As he floats down a lazy river, he pauses to wonder: “Have I spent too much time working and being anxious about things that really weren't that important?”

The acoustic follow-up “Rudy” is a soulful ballad which expresses the jealousy of the track’s career-driven protagonist towards a classmate who has in contrast prioritized family over professional ambition. Andrew says. “It’s thinking about whether this ambition mindset is something that's worthwhile.”

Later, on the jubilant, tongue-in-cheek “Quasi-Nichomachean Ethics (Drunk Uncle Advice)” Andrew imparts some life and career advice to his 21-year-old nephew, who is on the cusp of college graduation. “I wanted to keep it lighthearted,” Andrew expands. “But I was thinking about the act of providing guidance to somebody entering the job market, and what kind of advice would I give them that is also just kind of general life advice?”

Finally, penultimate track “Your Local Neighborhood Bar” opens with pounding piano chords and blooms with an upbeat synth melody and Andrew’s distinctive vocal cry. In this moment, the singer looks back at the open mic nights he would go to after work in Columbus, Ohio. “I think I was thinking about how much I want to make sure that I keep music in my life.”

With his singular combination of tight pop melodies, topical and confessional lyrics, and his cathartic vocal howl, Andrew Choi has crafted a remarkable and timely St. Lenox record. Anyone who has ever paused to wonder “What’s this all for?” as they climb the next rung in capitalist America will find solace in these stories, which, taken together, paint an evocative portrait of 21st century work life.