I know you've all missed my self-indulgent rants... I haven't been blogging much, mainly cos I've been way too busy discovering a new favourite country and adventuring and being in the sun. (And then, in fairness, working.) I'd also admittedly fallen into a bit of a Bright Eyes trap and never wanted to listen to anything else ever again. Ever. But yesterday I did, cos after nearly 8 weeks on the road, I'm finally a teensy bit homesick, and I needed something gentle for a Sunday morning. I'm also in the political heart of America and I fancied some American folk. And Loudon was exactly what I needed.
The Wainwrights do 'close-knit' pretty damn well. Loudon sings about his parents and about Martha and Rufus, Rufus sings about Martha, they both sing about their mother, and, on this album at least, Loudon sings about... another woman. It's all very... intimate.
I can see what Martha meant when she said her parents were very literal songwriters. Loudon Wainwraight III is one of those classic Americana folk artists who writes beautiful songs about everyday occurences and people. His sixteenth studio album, released at age 55, this album is clearly a heavily reflective album, and focuses intensely on his family. I like his literal style. He has a great ability to make the quotidienne sound interesting - my pick is "Out of Reach". He actually also makes the macabre sound frivolous (witness the excellent "Bed" and "Donations")
But mostly it's just about his voice. I unashamedly love classic folk, and that's what all these beautiful Wainwrights do best. Early in the album he sounds very Dylan-esque (witness "Living Alone"), but I hate making that comparison because Wainwright is just so clever in his own right. It's an album mostly unadorned with fussy accompaniment - a guitar here, a banjo there, and the occasional fiddle. It's a great album by a great artist who at is stage deserves the success of a simple, if slightly indulgent, album. And if I want to indulge on a Sunday morning, then I'll always happily do so with a Wainwright.
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