In this album, Doucet takes the listener on a ride through the waning emotions of a relationship and into the pain of ending it, recovering, and moving on. One critic said something along the lines of, “Doucet makes a broken heart and a bottle of whiskey sound new again.” Truer words could not have been written. It is wholly a blues album, twangy and delicious, painting a picture of a man who might as well be a roaming cowboy who loves his liquor and his lady, even though she (understandably) has a hard time handling his habits. At the same time it is also retains charming and lilting melodies and touches of techno that have such an influence the ‘indie’ music that is so popular today.

Each track pulls you further and further into the plot by presenting you with a variant on a larger musical theme, pulling up memories of other artists through the ages, from Johnny Cash in ‘Folsom Prison’ to Neil Young on ‘Harvest Moon’ an even toRadiohead on ‘OK Computer’. I promise you that you will listen to every track all the way through the first time you encounter this album, and that upon finishing it you will want to immediately go back and start from the beginning, getting involved in the stories again in the way you re-read and continue learning from a favorite book.

The thing I have the hardest time believing about this album is that it took me so long to hear about it. Some places date is as coming out as early as 2005, some place it in 2006. Whenever it was released, it is far from the first thing under his musical belt. Doucet spent time as SarahMcLachlan’s guitarist and recording his own solo projects. Many, many thanks to the kind soul who thought I might enjoy this CD and sent it on down to Florida. I highly encourage you to get one for yourself.

Tue, Mar 13, 2007 @ 10:19 am |