Another strong performance, this time of country folk blues with exceptional close harmonies, many different lead singers. Arrangements are simple, spare. The whole enterprise feels darker, less passionate, more hesitant than the first. But that hesitancy brings depth that broadens the band's range. This sturdy platform shows us a group with new staying power. Have the players toughened up with experience? Strongest songs are marked "S" below.
1. You're gonna miss me. Twangin' banjo-driven old-timey country blues. Slow, steady, square rhythm. Quiet conviction, low-key precision. Hints of gospel in the close, female back-up vocals.
2. One more time. Lovely, quietly upbeat rumination with close harmonies and a sweet, dusty, lackadaisical affect. Low-key, lightly strummed, and piano tickled country folk.
3. Be your woman. Ghostly, dark chant. Voodoo folk blues. Close harmonies feel like a swampy chorus of stirred-up spirits. Edgy gospel rising foggily from a black night ritual.
4. Wait for the sun. Unusually spare cover of a 1960s pop song (by the Searchers? Hollies?). Less engaging than other tracks. Slower, more subdued than the original.
5. Brotherly love. Slow, steady funk. Still country-based, but toughened up and tight. Nice interplay among voices over an exceptionally gritty, charcoal gray setting.
6. Record needle (S). Simple pop song (Beatles like) sung with steady, firm, quietly soulful resolve. Fine vocals spin up and build through a spare setting.
7. Lovin' in my baby's eyes. Quiet, simple organ complements a male vocal that brings Taj's sing-song original back to life in a new place. A place of earthy warmth, quiet content.
8. Butcher boy (S). Quiet soprano is a specter in a thin, chilly setting that speaks of haze and cold, steadily dripping rain--London indeed. The specter tinkles in tiny chilling sparks of fire in the gray. Almost an art or cabaret song.
9. Dirt floor. Allmans-strummed, funky, folk blues. Simple, spare Southern rock taken straight back to its red-clay roots. Fine vocals in the mix. Strong, quietly compelling.
10. When I remember to forget. Low-key, light country woman's lament in a sweetly simple sing-song. Allison Krauss comes to mind for some reason. Band swings demurely behind, complete with sax toots and soothing, close female vocals in the chorus. Tinkling ivories and fiddle in the bridge.
11. Swanee River. Dreamy, hazy take, swaying seemingly in a cloud from the hereafter. Heavenly female close vocals complement the subdued tenor lead. Tender, quietly weary, drawing memories from a deep reservoir far, far away. Almost too soft.