Mark Eitzel 'Demos Before Love Songs'

Not in any way a new recording or a new release, this has been available on limited edition cd for a while but is now available for all via itunes.

'Demos..' was recorded in 2003 with Jay Bennett (formerly of Wilco) and Eitzel's solo tour band at the time. Shortly afterwards Eitzel reformed American Music Club and many of these songs appeared on their reunion album 'Love Songs For Patriots'. These songs capture Eitzel at a career crossroads. At this point he hadn't released a new set of songs for over two years and had just released an album of his own songs recorded with Greek musicians. His solo shows were either incredibly magical or shambolic. I saw him play live in London in 2002 and it was an utterly spellbinding show, one of the best shows I have ever attended.

A couple of these songs were played then and it was clear that Eitzel had written some of the strongest material of his career. The brutal version of 'Patriots Heart' here is a much more raw performance than the one recorded for LSFP. 'Freedom' is an early version of 'Another Morning', a song directed at Eitzel himself and his failings. 'Bookstore' is 'Myopic Books' in demo form, one of Eitzel's warmest and simplest sentiments and a lovely song.

There are a couple of unreleased songs and any would have sat easily on LSFP.

These songs work well as a document of where Eitzel was at the time. It is easy to imagine how he could have recorded these as a stripped down solo album had the AMC reunion not happened. If you are a fan, this is an essential purchase, not least for the stunning version of 'Home', one of the most passionate songs Eitzel has ever written.

8.1

['Demos Before Love Songs' is available to buy at http://americanmusicclub.com/ and available to download on itunes. AMC tour the UK in September]