Rock/folk
John Prine. “Tree of Forgiveness.” Oh Boy Records.
John Prine thinks about things. And when John Prine thinks about things, people want to hear what he has to say.
That’s why Prine will never join some past-their-prime legends who founder as they try to recapture old magic. The way his brain works is just too interesting.
On “Tree of Forgiveness,” the 71-year-old folk singer’s first album of original material in 13 years, Prine rekindles the straight-ahead, earthbound spirit that made him a songwriting icon in the first place.
Sure, some of the things he contemplates here are heavy. Depression, for example, on “No Ordinary Blue.” His own mortality on “When I Get to Heaven.”
But Prine’s takes are hopeful, even cathartic. He comes off as healthy, well-adjusted and unafraid of what lies ahead.
“When I Get to Heaven,” the album’s raucous closer, imagines the afterlife as a place where he can order a cocktail and forgive everyone who’s ever done him wrong. It’s so joyous that listeners will think less about death than about Prine’s fun-loving take on what lies ahead.
It’s the kind of song that makes people wonder what he’ll be thinking about next. It’s why he’s still worth listening to.
– By Scott Stroud
The Associated Press
Singer-songwriter
Laura Veirs. “The Lookout.” Raven Marching Band Records.
Coming off an exceptional album and tour with k.d. lang and Neko Case in 2016, Laura Veirs spent months and months writing and re-writing dozens of songs in her Portland, Ore., studio. The hard work has paid off, and it sounds so good and natural that you won’t notice all the perspiration bonding with the inspiration to become “The Lookout,” her 10th solo record.
Veirs makes little revelations here and there about her own life and circumstances, or about who was in her thoughts for a particular tune. But instead of screaming out the headlines, she kneads the hints into the songs.
The title track, for example, is about her husband/producer/drummer Tucker Martine – her “lookout on the ground” – while “Heavy Petals” is a tribute to David Bowie, where “sunlight unserious” contrasts with his own “serious moonlight” phrase.
Electric harpsichord and pedal steel make for a liquid combination on a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Mountains of the Moon,” while a viola with a hint of the Orient on “Watch Fire” helps keeps the wolves at bay.
The excellent musicianship, with guests like Sufjan Stevens and Jim James, expands the guitar/piano foundations to ideal degrees of sound, just as Veirs’ details of scandal-free intimacy result in an album that’s exhaustively gratifying.
– By Pablo Gorondi
The Associated Press
