CD Reviews: Josh Ritter's "So Runs the World Away,' Patty Griffin's "Downtown Church"

JOSH RITTER
“So Runs the World Away” (Out May 4)

Through the years we’ve become very familiar with Josh’s stories, both in song and between songs in concert. From “Lillian, Egypt” to “The Temptation of Adam,” he’s proven to be a natural storyteller. So it is no surprise that on his new album, the literary “So Runs the World Away,” the focus turns to tales of cursed mummies and ships seeking new worlds. It is also makes sense that Josh is working on his first novel, called “Bright’s Passage,” due sometime next year. The songs on “So Runs the Word Away,” says Josh, “are larger and more detailed and feel to me as if they were painted in oil on large canvasses.”
As we’ve learned with each new album, Josh constantly moves in new directions, never willing to settle in a style or a sound for too long.
So after the rockin’, brash “Historical Conquests” album, this time we get a much more cerebral one overflowing with imagery set against a palette of sound, rather than the raucous backing of the past, by the newly dubbed Royal City Band of Zack Hickman (bass), Sam Kassirer (keyboards), Austin Nevins (guitar) and Liam Hurley (drums). We also get, for the first time, a female voice, provided by Dawn Landes, backing Josh on some tunes.
The album opens with a 56-second, almost orchestral instrumental “Curtains.” It is followed by “Change of Time,” a love song with an intricate musical layering of instruments similar to “Conquests,” and one of the signatures of Sam as producer. (He’s produced these last two Josh albums, as well as Erin McKeown’s last album, “Hundreds of Lions.”)
Our first taste of Josh’s storytelling on the album is on “The Curse,” about a mummy who is awakened by an archeologist and falls in love with her. The song is mesmerizingly brilliant, filled with lines that make you lean in to your stereo to hear every word: “She asks are you cursed but his answer’s obscured in a sandstorm of flashbulbs and rowdy reporters.” As the mummy grows stronger, the woman grows weaker, and there lies the curse. The spare and delicate backing by band adds to the tension of the song.
The other standout story-song on the album is “Another New World,” a 7-minute, 39-second journey to new lands aboard the ship the Annabel Lee, this captain’s love. Is it possible Josh is using the Edgar Allan Poe love story, “Annabel Lee,’’ as a guide to his own tale? The song is filled with incredible imagery, as if Josh actually took the trip himself.
It’s good to point out that not all the songs on “So Runs the World Away” are contemplative ones. “Rattling Locks” rocks with Josh playing the angry ex, spitting out, “Black hole, black hole how can your two eyes be empty as they look/All along I thought I was giving you my love but you were just stealing it and now I want back every single thing that you took.” This song, which opens with a percussion/guitar growl, will be a showstopper in concert. “The Remnant,” with Josh churning out the lyrics faster than you can take them in, is another beat-heavy, rockin’ tune.
There are plenty more songs to explore on the album. “Southern Pacifica,” the Springsteen-esque “Lantern” and “Long Shadows” are all worthy of the journeys they take you on. “Folk Bloodbath” is a tune that Josh has kicked around for years, but never recorded. It finally sees the light of day, complete with female backing vocals.
“So Runs the World Away” once again expands the art of Josh Ritter. His stories have now taken on a life of their own and galvanized his songs.


Patty Griffin
“Downtown Church” (Out now)

No one should be surprised by Patty Griffin’s latest album, an all-gospel affair titled “Downtown Church.” For those listening closely to her last two albums, there were hints at this direction in a number of those songs.
It is also not stunning to realize how well her voice fits the genre. It may not have been apparent that gospel is in her DNA, but we are fairly certain it is in her soul.
“Downtown Church” is a collection of 14 songs, mostly covers but a few originals recorded in a 160-year-old Presbyterian church in Nashville. Each song is sung in Patty’s distinctive, wonderfully expressive voice and many include guests – ranging from Emmylou Harris to Regina and Ann McCrary, Buddy Miller, and others.
The album opens with Patty singing solo on Hank Williams’ hush of a tune “House of Gold.” But that mood doesn’t last long, as she jumps right into the uptempo Southern rave “Move Up,” with help from the McCrarys, Miller, and Jim Lauderdale. You can just picture the congregation in the church pews in full swing.
She continues to mix traditional tunes (“Wade Into the Water”) with blues (an inspiring “If I Had My Way”). She even contributes two originals, “Little Fire” and “Coming Home to Me,” that meld perfectly with the album’s spirit of redemption and the power of faith.
To our ears, the best tunes are the ones that make us move our body, such as the aforementioned “Move Up” and the snakey R&B-tinged “I Smell a Rat.”
In all, “Downtown Church” may not end up as one of Patty Griffin’s most widely loved albums, but it is clearly a part of her musical personality and it is a genuine expression of her passion.

CD Reviews: Sarah Borges, Josh Ritter, Lori McKenna, Eilen Jewell

MAKING HER MOVE - Sarah Borges, "Diamonds in the Dark"
When Sarah Borges signed with Sugar Hill Records, she joined Americana stalwarts James McMurtry and Robert Earl Keen, bluegrass legends Jerry Douglas and Peter Rowen, and young acts Nickel Creek and the Duhks on a label that’s not flashy, but is incredibly productive and has great taste in music. It is a perfect spot for the Boston 20-something and her bar-band mates, who dabble fit in nicely within the label’s genres.
There’s nothing fancy about Sarah’s style. She takes honky-tonk and rockabilly and infuses it with a blast of Boston-rock energy. As the leader, she is sassy and full of fun. Her debut album, “Silver City,’’ which came out on the small Texas label Blue Corn Music and garnered attention for its rollicking songs like “Daniel Lee” and “Same Old 45.”
On “Diamonds in the Dark,” Sarah continues her rise from unknown to powerhouse performer. Her singing can be both tough (“Open Up Your Back Door”) and tender (“Belle of the Ball’’) and her band, the Broken Singles, provide steady and stellar backup, especially Mike Castellana’s electric and pedal steel guitar work. Bassist Binky and drummer Robert Larry Dulaney lay down a solid, raucous beat, right from the first song and album single “The Day We Met.’’ Tunes like “Stop and Think It Over’’ and “Diabolito’’ bristle with whiskey-soaked rockin’ energy. “False Eyelashes” shows off her honky-tonk side, and she even throws in, among her covers, “Come Back to Me,’’ from the punk band X.
With “Diamonds,’’ Sarah proves she’s got the chops, but even more impressive is that she sounds true whether rocking out or finessing the more country numbers.


GOING UPCOUNTRY - Lori McKenna, "Unglamorous"
When it was first announced that Lori had been lured away from little Signature Sounds to join conglomerate Warner Bros./Nashville to join the likes of the First Couple of Country Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, the Boston folk community was more than a little concerned that they would be treated like a spurned lover straight out of a country song. Would her wonderful quirky voice get lost amid the twang? Would the stories she weaves of small-town life take a detour into bland terrain? Would she exchange her modern mother image for something slicker?
We waited nervously for her first album on the new label.
Well, we can all breathe a sigh of relief because “Unglamorous,” which came out in August, is still pure Lori. Yes, there are some changes, but the core of her songs is intact. The storytelling about family and blue-collar life are still here, and that voice… well, it is front and center, and surprisingly fits in well with her new “country” persona without losing its folk roots.
So what’s different? The songs are backed by a slick band of musicians making the songs sound more glossy than on past albums. Strings are even detected on a song or two, which adds to the new feel.
But for the most part, Lori remains Lori. The single and title song “Unglamorous” feeds the image of her as a real-life hectic mother of five telling of her life of “peanut butter on everything” and “one TV set, no cable.” And her new side is also well represented with songs like “Drinking Problem,” which sounds straight out of the “How to Write a Country Song Handbook” without straying too far from her own personal style. “I’m Not Crazy” perfectly straddles both worlds.
So we can rest easy and throw away our empty whiskey bottles, Lori hasn’t left us for another audience.


FINDING AN UPBEAT GROOVE - Eilen Jewell, "Letters From Sinners and Strangers"
We’ve learned to listen very closely when others offer opinions. And especially when it is the opinion of Jim Olsen, owner of the small Western Mass. label Signature Sounds. In May 2006, he told us about an obscure, young singer named Eilen Jewell (see Issue 10); he was impressed with her old-timey and ageless sound. Within months – no big surprise – she had joined his label.
As much as that was a great move for him, it was an even better move for Eilen. While we don’t spend a bunch of time praising record labels, Signature Sounds deserves every accolade. It supports singer-songwriters from Kris Delmhorst and Peter Mulvey, neo-bluegrass dynamos Crooked Still, and helped launch the ever-successful careers of Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown, and Lori McKenna.
As for Eilen, her first album, the self-produced “Boundary County,” was a nice album of low-key, Americana guitar and fiddle tunes. Her new album, “Letters From Sinners & Strangers,” has the one thing her last was missing – upbeat tunes. From the opener “Rich Man’s World,” and through the ’40s sounding “High Shelf Booze,” the jaunty “Heartache Boulevard,’’ and a cover of Dylan’s “Walking Down the Line,’’ the songs are filled out with the kick of fiddle and harmonica. “How Long” puts a Martin Luther King speech to a wonderfully slinky beat.
Eilen’s band – Jason Beek on drums, Jerry Miller on electric and steel guitar, and Johnny Sciascia on acoustic bass – make the songs snap and sparkle.
That whole uptempo spirit is celebrated on the final track “Blue Highway,” a fun-loving rockabilly-like romp.


A PROGRESSION OF "HISTORICAL" PROPORTION - Josh Ritter, "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"
Josh Ritter is a restless sort – restless in that he can’t let his musical vision stand still. On previous albums he’s written country songs of lost souls and hard lives; tapped into poetic verses about love and longing; and created darker, image-driven songs that ask political and philosophical questions. Now, with his latest release, “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter,” it’s the music, not the lyrics, that lead the way. As he sings in the rocking, beat-heavy “Rumors’’: “I lock myself in with the band but the music’s never loud enough.’’
When we reviewed Josh’s last album, “The Animal Years,” we implored V2 to release the album as quickly as possible. As it was, the label held it back for more than six months, waiting for the right time for them. We didn’t have to beg this time. Josh, who became a “free agent” when V2 went bankrupt, was allowed to shop his completed album to whichever label provided the best deal. The winner is Sony BMG – and Josh fans. The album was released in August and it is a blast to listen to.
“Conquests” is both daring and brilliant.
It’s daring in that it will shock even the most loyal Joshheads. Some will love it, some may not – because it strays even further from the young man who innocently tried to lure Kathleen into his car for a ride. But it also may attract new listeners and maybe even – gasp! – commercial radio.
It’s brilliant because, unlike “The Animal Years,” which mesmerized with its combination of imagery, cynicism, and anger, “Conquests” is much more upbeat, uptempo and fun. Josh’s lyrics, which are still as clever as ever, take a backseat to the beat. The album opens with “To the Dogs or Whoever” with Josh singing in a muted vocal backed by offbeat piano and strumming guitar. Then the song takes off in the chorus with heavy drumbeat, pounding piano and guitars. Trying to catch all the imagery in the lyrics is not easy. The album continues with cooking tunes “Mind’s Eye” and “Right Moves” before the first “singer-songwriter”-type song appears in “The Last Temptation of Adam.’’
“Conquests” continues the progression of a young songwriter and the melding singer and band into one. Gillian Welch always jokes that she and David Rawlings are members of a band called Gillian Welch. This may be true with Josh Ritter as well. His bandmates – bassist Zack Hickman, keyboard player Sam Kassirer, and new drummer Liam Hurley – provide the firepower. Sam also produced the album, adding inspired sonic touches throughout including violin, horns and backing vocals. Check out “Real Long Distance Love,’’ which ends in a blaze all of the above.
We’re not sure what the album’s title actually refers to (‘‘I just wanted something that felt big and cocky but funny,’’ says Josh in a recent interview), but it could be a shortened version of what was originally “The Historical Music Conquests of Josh Ritter” because to our ears we hear some amazing stylistic references to the past: Bob Dylan (we know, it’s there in every album); 1970s Paul Simon in “The Last Temptation of Adam”; John Lennon in “Rumors” (not to mention The Knack in the opening beat!); and the Beatles in the harmonies in “Wait for Love (You Know You Will).’’
There is something fun and new in every song here. It may take multiple listens to get the meaning of Josh’s lyrics but that’s only because it’s so hard to stop bobbing your head to the music.

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