Home
Impasse
Impasse in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $15.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: CD
Grizzled folkie
Richard Buckner
evokes more dark snapshots of life and the intricacies of relationships on his fifth release,
Impasse
. Similar in feel and texture to his previous releases,
winds around the same moody corners, experimenting with the intimacy of the best
singer/songwriters
and the quirky fuzz and crunch of
indie rock
. The spirits of frequent collaborators
Joey Burns
and
John Convertino
linger large over this project, and after an initial listen it is surprising to find out that
Buckner
played all of the instruments this time around (with the exception of the drums, performed expertly by his wife, artist
Penny Jo Buckner
). Mellotron hums and vibraphone chimes back the singer's familiar growl and warm, nylon-stringed guitar, with textures floating past like faded slides bought from a garage sale. Landing somewhere between
Since
's driving experimentation and the melancholy drones of
Devotion + Doubt
, the album fits squarely into
's catalog, but may not push too far in either direction. While
emphasized
's grit with rocked-out guitar passages and wild sonic abandon and
pushed him nearly over the edge in its soul-crushing depression and beautifully haunting themes of loss and heartbreak,
finds the author seemingly more comfortable with the cards in his hand. The tension between musicians on
and the tensions between
and himself on
are subtly missing on
, but this wiser and gentler
seems to be embracing a more even keel. With no soul-baring
a cappella
tracks and no glitchy rave-ups, the album seems to be painted with the same brush from start to finish, which certainly makes for a more even listen, but there is something about the contrast in his previous works that is missing here. Listening to just the first few seconds of each track, there is a discomforting similarity in the way each song starts, almost as if
has worked himself into a familiar pattern and is happy working within it time and time again. Still, every song on the album is fantastic -- starkly beautiful and unusually comforting. While this collection of songs is not
's best, it still is head and shoulders above 99 percent of the angst-fueled
singer\songwriters
out there. ~ Zac Johnson
Richard Buckner
evokes more dark snapshots of life and the intricacies of relationships on his fifth release,
Impasse
. Similar in feel and texture to his previous releases,
winds around the same moody corners, experimenting with the intimacy of the best
singer/songwriters
and the quirky fuzz and crunch of
indie rock
. The spirits of frequent collaborators
Joey Burns
and
John Convertino
linger large over this project, and after an initial listen it is surprising to find out that
Buckner
played all of the instruments this time around (with the exception of the drums, performed expertly by his wife, artist
Penny Jo Buckner
). Mellotron hums and vibraphone chimes back the singer's familiar growl and warm, nylon-stringed guitar, with textures floating past like faded slides bought from a garage sale. Landing somewhere between
Since
's driving experimentation and the melancholy drones of
Devotion + Doubt
, the album fits squarely into
's catalog, but may not push too far in either direction. While
emphasized
's grit with rocked-out guitar passages and wild sonic abandon and
pushed him nearly over the edge in its soul-crushing depression and beautifully haunting themes of loss and heartbreak,
finds the author seemingly more comfortable with the cards in his hand. The tension between musicians on
and the tensions between
and himself on
are subtly missing on
, but this wiser and gentler
seems to be embracing a more even keel. With no soul-baring
a cappella
tracks and no glitchy rave-ups, the album seems to be painted with the same brush from start to finish, which certainly makes for a more even listen, but there is something about the contrast in his previous works that is missing here. Listening to just the first few seconds of each track, there is a discomforting similarity in the way each song starts, almost as if
has worked himself into a familiar pattern and is happy working within it time and time again. Still, every song on the album is fantastic -- starkly beautiful and unusually comforting. While this collection of songs is not
's best, it still is head and shoulders above 99 percent of the angst-fueled
singer\songwriters
out there. ~ Zac Johnson
Shop Similar Products
