Damien Jurado, Saint Bartlett
Featured Album
Jurado's sound is the biggest it's ever been
"I'm still trying to fix my mind," sings Damien Jurado on "Cloudy Shoes," the Wayne Coyne-channeling opener of his latest LP, Saint Bartlett. The melody doesn't change much throughout the song, but that and the string-laden backing are steady and soothing — fitting for a piece about someone going through hard times. Later, in "Rachel & Cali," the Seattle-based singer/songwriter admits, "There's too many people here I don't know/ …I just don't feel confident in crowds." Jurado's biggest strength has always been his ability to tell sad stories, and Saint Bartlett shows he's still on the same page.
Nearly half the album's tracks are named after places — "Arkansas," "Wallingford," "Kansas City," "Beacon Hill," "Kalama" — and they seem to be perhaps a reminder of where these stories take place. The mournful and haunting "Kansas City" is about someone whose estranged father reappears after his mother's death and finds Jurado singing, "All was left to me, that's why he's returned/ I know that I should have been thrilled."
Saint Bartlett was produced by Richard Swift, and he and Jurado take on every instrument throughout the set, rather than his regular collaborators, Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad, the latter of whom sang on much of 2008's Caught In The Trees. "Arkansas" is driven by a girl group-influenced '60s piano line supported by strings; "Wallingford" is washed with reverby electric guitar riffs; "The Falling Snow" uses a tinny organ and layered vocals. It's in many ways a departure from past efforts, but even with fewer musicians on board than the last time, Jurado's sound is the biggest it's ever been.
