"Sunday Shoes", Nels' album from 2004, was an absolute standout and at long last we have a follow-up album to enjoy. The "El Paso Eyepatch" band that made that album are no more; Nels is now settled in Brooklyn and the new album is recorded with a large-ish band of players under the production of Todd Sickafoose.
For all the new circumstances, the sound is not radically different - low-key and atmospheric, with Nels' vocals well to the fore; the extensive use of piano is probably the biggest change, and that fits very nicely into the songs. I do have a quibble, though, with some of the "atmospherics" - electronic trills, brushed cymbals, single bars of picked banjo and a "wine glass orchestra" - that frequently irritate, getting in the way of the structure of the song. Sometimes these things work: "Sunday Shoes", re-worked completely from the radio recording of 2004, has an eerie backdrop of sounds behind the building urgency of the music, and the tension rises like floodwaters behind a dam, never quite reaching breaking point.
It's Nels' voice that makes his music so captivating, though. Seemingly effortless and unaffected, his singing is matter-of-fact, warm, thoughtful, affectionate, gruff - all of these things at the same time sometimes. Though his songs tend to sound downbeat, they are in fact full of a love for life, an appreciation of the small things in life that hit home.
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They're also beautifully constructed and I expect the man's a perfectionist: just nine songs here, and two of those are, to my knowledge, several years old, ("Three Days" appeared as "Warm Rain" previously). Still, I reckon the quality control is a good thing - there's more than enough albums padded out to over 60 minutes with second-rate material. There's three quiet, contemplative, songs here that are quite beautiful; they offer the promise of many years to come of first-rate songwriting from this man. Having seen him perform - just himself and his guitar - inside the last twelve months, I can also promise you that he is a most impressive performer, with a quiet way of absolutely nailing your attention.
(http://www.nessmp3.com/music/biscuitsandgravy)
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