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Joe Henry - "Like She Was a Hammer" [mp3]
Fuse [Amazon] |
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If there's one thing you can count on in life, it's Joe Henry. Egregiously garnering renown for his relations (he's Madonna's brother-in-law, y'know) rather than his skills, Henry has quietly emerged as one of the more unique and talented songwriters plying the trade these days. Sprouting from folk roots in the early nineties, Henry quickly moved on, recording two beautiful roots-rock albums with the Jayhawks, Short Man's Room and Kindness of the World. The songs on these albums, along with eliciting some of that band's more inspired performances, revealed Henry's innate [existing from birth] ability to craft characters and tales at once tangible and surreal, but most importantly, compelling. Further solidifying his reputation as a songwriter and musical shape-shifter, Henry found unmitigated success dropping his country twang for heady, atmospheric pop on 1996's Trampoline. His work shined brightly against the backdrop of the album's sparse studio applications, especially on "Ohio Air Show Plane Crash," one of the finest songs penned this decade.
Though those airy arrangements remain, Fuse finds Henry transplanting a subdued soul for Trampoline's cold, voyeuristic heart. In fact, the smoldering groove and K.R. King's alto sax on "Angels," the cool funk of "Fat," and the jazzy instrumental "Curt Flood," exile Henry's country boy days to distant memory. Whereas Trampoline sounded like an experiment, the smoky Fuse showcases Henry confident and adventurous in his adopted surroundings. Though he may have found a more polished sound in the studio, his songs remain uncontainable. Fuse is peopled with Henry's usual cast of visceral and engaging vignettes: a forlorn suitor pines for his lover while caring for her monkey, angels abuse their wards, and even the unabashed commercial pop of "Skin and Teeth" has Henry loving like no other. Along with his songs, Henry's gravely whine is a constant. While he has always acquitted himself singing, his vocals here are downright seductive. On "Like She Was a Hammer," Henry transforms his voice into a percussive instrument, reeling off a staccato slideshow of similes to describe a lover, and his placement of the phrase "oh" on "Great Lakes" is arguably the highlight of the album. Source: Pitchfork. |
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