On January 24th the Wood Brothers will be releasing their new album “Kingdom in my Mindâ€. It is an eclectic, edgy and experimental collection of songs that were put together in an unorthodox manner. It may be their best work to date; which is impressive given their most recent studio release, “One Drop Of Truthâ€, garnered the band their first GRAMMY award nomination for Best Americana Album. They began the recording of the album unintentionally. They were simply breaking in their new Nashville recording studio. They got together for an extended jam session as a way to get familiar with the sound and acoustics of the new digs. Other sessions followed, and after listening the band realized they had put something together that couldn’t be replicated. This improvisational style fits with Chris Wood’s background from Medeski Martin and Wood. The problem was they had cool jams but no songs. So they set about adding lyrics, bridges and all the other ingredients to turn free form into something more structured. That something is “Kingdom in My Mindâ€.
The title cut provides the theme of the album. “Everyone has these little kingdoms in their minds,†says Chris Wood, “and the songs on this album all explore the ways we find peace in them. They look at how we deal with our dreams and our regrets and our fears and our loves. They look at the stories we tell ourselves and the ways we balance the darkness and the lightâ€. Each song in some way builds on this theme through story. The albums opener “Alabaster†tells of a woman breaking out of a harmful relationship and starting over, “The last phonebooth in New York City Ringing all day, calling somebody home. She doesn’t answer, she walks faster. She won’t be going back to Alabaster.†The lyrics came on a road trip Chris took with family for a wedding in southern Alabama. Driving home, he saw a sign for Alabaster, Alabama and the story flowed. Even cooler for yours truly is that Alabaster is the city just below Birmingham where I live. It is interesting that Chris Wood is contributing more lyrics as the band evolves. Oliver Wood has more of a background with lyrics from King Johnson, while MWW was an instrumental trio. Oliver’s unique vocals are easily identifiable and the lyrics on each song are clever and captivating.
The album’s eclectic Americana, mixes Blues, Jazz and Gospel harmonies in a way that is experimental in nature but not at the expense of being engaging to the listener. The Wood Brothers keep getting better.
About the author: Chip and his family live in Birmingham, AL. Roll Tide!