Magnolia Electric Co, Josephine
A stirring alt-country epitaph for a lost, missed friend
Jason Molina's deep reservoir of dark-horse Americana doesn't always lend itself to easy sipping or casual toe-dips into the catalog. From his early years doing Will Oldham lo-fi noir (under the name Songs:Ohia) to his electric-drifter rock band (with Magnolia Electric Co.), Molina is an austere study in alt-country, his ever-growing discography littered with daunting monoliths such as the four-CD Sojourner box set.
Josephine, touted as a concept album, might not seem like the most accessible starting point. But opening track "O, Grace!" rolls in so gently on a bed of piano, acoustic guitar and winsome vocals, it feels like the Crosby, Stills & Nash tour bus just pulled over and invited you aboard. Josephine is also Molina's most ornate work, encompassing '50s slow-dance country ("The Rock Of Ages") and Appalachian a cappella ("Hope Dies Last") as well as his more familiar, Crazy Horse-inspired guitar grinding and lonesome folk laments.
The ghost in this recording is Magnolia bassist Evan Farrell, who died in 2007 in a Chicago apartment fire; according to Molina, it was Farrell who urged him to experiment with adding rich instrumentation to skeletal songs. Whether Josephine deserves to be called a concept album is debatable, but it is an album of eerie duality: Molina weaves a narrative of a man who leaves a woman for freedom and the open road, only to find he left his heart behind. At the same time, Molina seems to be paying tribute to musical partner Farrell, a fellow traveler who rides beside him in this world or the next.
