Sun Kil Moon
April
Caldo Verde
By Mike Randall
Any questions regarding Mark Kozelek’s so-called writer’s block have been answered during April, Sun Kil Moon’s first full-length of original material in five years. With scattered recent output that includes records featuring three AC/DC covers and another comprised entirely of re-workings of Modest Mouse tunes, Kozelek’s skill has never been questioned, but his prolificacy certainly has. With April, we see what he’s been doing all those years, and it’s well worth the wait.
With eleven songs clocking in at a shade under an hour and twenty minutes, Kozelek comes across like a novelist who’s been sheltered away working on his opus, unwilling to let it see the light of day until it’s been mastered. In fact, with long narratives that revolve around a single set of chords, an arpeggio or a riff, listening to this record is more like settling in with a book full of literary short stories than an exciting musical journey. The songs are delicate and intimate – so much so that if you whisper something while listening you’ll feel like you’ll disturb him as his sad voice hypnotizes you with tales of heartache, regret, dreams and fallen loves.
Even with sprawling verses that completely ignore choruses and standard song structure, Kozelek never sounds like he’s rambling. He is clearly channeling Nick Drake here, both in terms of what comes across like a fragile emotional state and a hushed sound recalling winding stairs that lead up high, directionless roads and skies that always seem dark, illuminated by nothing but city lights.
Songs like the haunting and hypnotic “Heron Blue” feel like a drive across Middle America - there aren’t many turns but there’s still beauty all around you every step of the way. The majestic, nearly ten-minute opening track, “Lost Verses,” mirrors Drake’s “Made to Love Magic,” with somber lyrics that set the tone for the remainder of the album: "I've risen up from the dead/With the burning leaves of autumn/If only for one last chance/That all of whom have been defeated/To put on my father's wool coat/To smell my mother's fragrances and perfumes/To find my young brothers and sisters/To never leave or let them go."
On “Lucky Man,” he sounds as if he’s singing through a rain-clouded window to no one in particular, complete with a beautiful arpeggio and a double vocal style that harkens back to Elliot Smith. The waltz-y “Moorestown” and gorgeous “Tonight in Bilbao” both enlist the help of a melancholic string section that seem to elicit feeling every bit as contrite and emotive as Kozelek’s lyrics, but it’s the heartbreaking “Blue Orchid” that is the standout on a record of standouts. “My fallen sister died so young,” he sings while showcasing his fingerpicked classical-influenced guitar prowess.
Not every track is total downer music, however. Kozelek has a fantastic ability to portray a desolate brand of Americana and he wears quite a bit of Neil Young on his sleeve, specifically in the fuzzy, warm swing of “The Light,” as his voice touches the border of Son Volt country rock. The banjo of “Unlit Hallway” unmistakably brings “Old Man” to mind, while “Tonight the Sky” carries a melody that sounds like Crazy Horse covering “House of the Rising Sun,” complete with a ragged, suffocating Young-esque solo. The record gets some color from these moments, especially “Like a River,” a gorgeous country ballad that will make it seem like Whiskeytown was reincarnated.
Kozelek’s melancholic approach and repetitive accompaniment isn’t for everyone, but once you get locked in with him you won’t be able to focus on anything else. He’s a folk singer in every sense of the term, and his lyrical canon will have you in a trance hanging on every word and rhythm, even eight minutes into a song. We’re clearly listening to someone with a gift, someone who doesn’t feel the need to spew out material unless it’s of the highest grade. It might take another five years for a new original Sun Kil Moon record, it might be next year, but one thing is for sure – it will only come when it’s ready.
|
