Jeffrey Foucault
Horse Latitudes
(Signature Sounds)
Jeffrey Foucault’s music is about as smooth as the tea and honey he sings about on Horse Latitudes. The album combines electric bass, drums, cello, guitar and more with soft lyrics about love and loneliness. The first three songs swerve and jerk a bit with Bob Dylanesque exaggerated notes, then Foucault settles into a steady groove for the rest of the ride, producing soulful country compositions with hints of retro folk. Foucault’s voice embodies the raspy warmth of tobacco and whiskey in “Tea and Tobacco,” and the whole album proves inviting. Foucault plays a CD release party April 23 at the Iron Horse in Northampton. —Magdalene Nutter
*
High Horse
High Horse
(High School Football/Black Cactus)
Right from the start—which comes about .2 seconds after you push “play”—High Horse makes clear that its sense of musical urgency will not wait for you to understand it. Beginning with the opening track “Uncomplicated” (which is anything but), the band launches into a mish-mash of progressive pop/rock/metal/ska that channels (at once) The Offspring, Spoon, The Clash, Weezer and Queens of the Stone Age. Tempos and time signatures are basically rough guidelines to the trio, that—it’s difficult to tell which—either keeps brushing up against pop genius from the cacophony of its jerky, metally snot-punk or shooting itself in the foot by veering too far/too often from its core of catchy hooks and respectable vocals. —Tom Sturm
*
Lucinda Williams
Blessed
(Lost Horizon)
The title track of Lucinda Williams’ new CD is a treasure—elegantly rendered and humbly produced. “We were blessed,” she sings repeatedly, offering a parade of characters, described in ironic couplets, who have given something of themselves. As in the best Dylan songs, the sentiment is simple, but given depth with precise word choice and the bravery to avoid unnecessary adornment. The verses skip the usual chorus and bridge, ending with a laid-back jam reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. As satisfying as the song is, it unfortunately serves to make the rest of the album feel not quite up to snuff. The other songs seem clunky in comparison, and her performances overwrought. The CD’s packaging also appears to over-compensate for the otherwise thin content—it’s a “deluxe” edition, offering a random selection of eight possible album covers plus a bonus disk of demo tracks. —Mark Roessler
