RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Ah, thanks goodness - not just for the '8', but I was worried that your ever-present record of contributions was coming to an end!I was familiar with Josh Ritter as I have his first two albums ‘Hello Starling’ and ‘ The Golden Age of Radio’ in my collection.However I’ve not heard any tracks from this album before.
I agree there are lots of influences here, David Gray and Paul Simon being
the obvious but like Journolud I can hear Lenard Cohen both in the music and the lyrics.The earlier albums were very similar to David Grays earlier albums in them being mainly acoustic guitar driven.
I like JR voice which is a good start, as already mention there are a lot of good songs on this album, the standout for me being ‘The Curse’
I just love this song and even my wife insists on me playing it, which is very unusual.
There’s a good mix of styles and melodies including the gospel of
‘Folk Bloodbath’
The main criticism is its quite a long album so my interest wains towards the end.
A great pick worth a 7 plus an extra 1 for ‘The Curse’
So 8
Glad your wife liked "The Curse".
Whilst I like the two albums you mention (and "Kathleen" from Hello Starling is certainly one of his career best songs) I think his best albums all come later.
Given you are a Jason Isbell fan, it might be worth you taking a listen to Josh Ritter's most recent album from 2019 - Fever Breaks - because not only does JI produce, but his band backs JR on the album.