Similar Artists: Alice in Chains, Mark Lanegan, Thurston Moore
Former Alice in Chains guitarist releases his first solo work in 19 years, and the results are pleasantly compelling. An all-star cast of characters (Duff Mckagen, Gil Sharrone, and Greg Puciato) joined Cantrell in the studio, and Cantrell produced this remarkable work.
Cantrell describes the album as "a journey up through darkness to light." Brighten is filled with space; within that space, Cantrell reflects on the past two decades of healing and growth.
The opening track, Atone, is one that Cantrell tells us has haunted him for twenty years. It is a soundscape that could serve as a soundtrack for a late-sixties spaghetti western. His grunge has mellowed with age and, as mixed with country and folk, creates something altogether new.
Prism of Doubt, the most rhythmic and harmonious track, is a triumph of wills in which the singer recognizes his shortcomings, and no matter how his perspective has changed over the years, it is an unshakable prism of doubt that shapes his thoughts.
The undertones of Brighten are that of a guilty man who feels he has gotten away with something and does not deserve his lot in life. The pathos is palpable and identifiable, yet the story is spun with threads of lessons learned and hope - as if stepping out into the sun after a long season of rain.
When the dust of Cantrell's not-so-everyday life settles, we're treated to a surprisingly fitting finale, a cover of Elton John's "Goodbye." Here we hear Cantrell's voice in relative isolation, in this reviewer's opinion letting listeners know that what we have just experienced only comes around every few decades and don't expect anything more for quite some time.
Similar Artists: My Morning Jacket, Wilco, M. Ward
James Wallace, singer, songwriter, and producer behind Skyway Man describes his third studio album, The World Only Ends When You Die, as "a spinning disc flashing the finest examples of cosmological country and sci-fi gospel blues." If that's not enough to give it a listen, I don't know what is. After I did, I found his description quite apt. There's a lot of soul here, a lot of good ole fireside foot-stomping, and enough howls at the moon to make the wolves think you're one of their own.
Songs such as "Night Walking, Alone," "Sometimes Darkness…," and "Common Void" reveal the sonic easiness of early My Morning Jacket while "Muddy Water" is so early Dylan-esque it feels as if it belongs on one of the New Basement Tapes Dylan cover albums alongside Marcus Mumford's "Going Back to Kansas City."
The World Only Ends When You Die is construed by the artist as a cinematic psych-folk opera about a person rendered incapable of coping with an uncertain reality following a near-death experience. Under a spell of mixed wisdom by several "trickster guides" hailing from the future, they leap back into the world of the dead only to spend a hero's journey climbing out, finally returning to the strange American existence of 2020.
After Wallace's lyrics seep into the listener's consciousness, a realization sets in that while the struggles we've all faced within the uncertainty of 2020 have hardened us, that hardening has also left us stronger and better prepared to take on whatever the future brings.
"Muddy water like a piece of ancient church glass flowing. We're on the darkest stretch, but the bend ahead is glowing."
"Sometimes darkness in the mind, sometimes it leaves us."
"Don't feel bad about being alive. Sometimes the ship rocks you side-to-side. Some hold tightly, some watch the moonrise bobbing up and down in the water."
I've given this album a good ten listens, and the beauty of it doesn't fade after two or three. In fact, the more I listen, it seems the more I discover. A welcome start to the 2021 year in music.
Similar Artists: Bob Dylan, Graham Parsons, The Byrds, Brett Dennen
The Fountain of Young
Poet William Stafford said, “There’s a thread you follow” and the release of Homegrown, originally recorded December 1974/January 1975, but not released until June 19, 2020, has Neil Young pulling his countrified thread through the small vinyl holes of Harvest (1972) Homegrown (2020), Comes A Time (1979), Harvest Moon (1992), and Silver and Gold (2000).
Although Young has a broad range of genres that run through his genes, his latest album is clearly of the country gene, most notably with the work of Ben Keith, who first appeared on Harvest, playing steel and electric guitar. Young and Keith work together like root beer and ice on this set, bringing that country twang to life. As Homegrown was not released for 45 years, several of the songs appeared on other albums along the way as Young continued his prolific spinning of yarns.
For example, the title track is a song that first appeared on American Stars & Bars (1976), and it fits here much better 44 years later. Has it really been that long? Obviously, young never grows old. “Separate Ways” opens the door to Homegrown (2020), and one can easily hear “Old Man” from Harvest, which is fine considering the thread. “Love is a Rose” is a metaphorical gem that made its way onto Young’s greatest hits compilation Decade (1978) but fits much better here.
Spoken-word, “Florida,” brings to mind some of the soliloquies from Tonight’s the Night (1975), minus the pre-grunge rock sound which has been replaced by a tone that sounds like a Tibetan crystal bowl that doesn’t belong. “Kansas” might be the weakest song of the set, leaving me wishing that Neil wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Though recorded in late ‘74/early ’75, it sounds like an outtake from Hawks & Doves (1980) that just doesn’t fit here. Speaking of Hawks & Doves (1980), “Little Wing,” which is the opening track on that album, is next to last on Homegrown and fits there perfectly. Same with “Star of Bethlehem,” which ended up on American Stars & Bars (1976), the same album that gave us the song which gave us the title for Homegrown. Here “Star of Bethlehem” ends the album while “Homegrown” ended American Stars & Bars. How about that?
“Homegrown” on this album sounds truly homegrown, like Crazy Horse snuck into the barn to lay this one down. “We Don’t Smoke It No More” sounds like Dylan’s “Rainy Day Woman #12 & 32” on drugs, making one doubt that someone doesn’t smoke it no more. Enough said. This is the one throwaway on the album. I’d stay in Kansas to hide from this one. Unlike “Kansas,” “White Line,” which eventually made it onto the classic garage rock album Ragged Glory (1990), fits perfectly with the other country songs served up on Homegrown.
The follow-up, “Vacancy,” could have made its way on Ragged Glory as it continues the groove in similar fashion and could have certainly been rocked up on that album. Here, the thread runs through every note, though near the end, I begin to wonder if I wished that there was no vacancy.
All in all, it must be an amazing place to be as an artist to be able to pull an old ball of yarn out of the closet after 45 years and roll it out. Solid songs from the past brought forward into a new light. Overall, the thread works here, though it gets a bit ragged at times. A lot like life.
