Springing fully formed from the mind of singer/guitarist Jason Molina, this is one mature debut album. The instrumentation is just right: Molina knows exactly when to compliment his tenor guitar and haunting vocals with a touch of banjo and woodwinds. Likewise, Molina shows a brave restraint in places, stripping songs down to their bare minimum and allowing them fly or fall on their own power. This album paints with broad brushstrokes the territory that Molina explores in more detail with subsequent Songs: Ohia albums. With vaguely circular lyrical patterns and diction that seems to flow out of some as yet undiscovered folk tradition, these songs speak of love in terms of fear and exhilaration. – Jason Nickey