American singer-songwriter Kozelek, best known as the founder of the band Red House Painters and leader of the Sun Kil Moon, is back with his guttural voice and impressionistic lyrics full of melancholic misanthropy. This time, he’s accompanied by musicians Ben Boye and Jim White (drummer of the Dirty Three), with whom he had already collaborated in 2017 on a mostly improvised album. The trio offers us extensive, languorous pieces that are often more than ten minutes long, with delicate arrangements mixing piano, guitar and percussion, allowing Kozelek’s voice to shine through. The singer’s lyrics are as personal and literary as ever, referring to popular culture (from Justin Timberlake to Marlon Brando via Tupac and Jack Kerouac) and the banal and universal details of everyday life. An album that recalls in a way the poetry of the beat movement, as Kozelek delivers his long (and sometimes a bit disjointed) texts halfway between the sung and spoken word.
