Damien Jurado has been making intelligent singer-songwriter records for over ten years now without ever really breaking through in the way Bon Iver did this year. He is superb at affecting acoustic ballads ('Medication') and can do powerful rockier stuff ('I Break Chairs', 'Texas To Ohio') but when he sticks to the middle ground, as he has done on his last couple of albums, he can get a little lost and sound like 'just another Americana singer'.
This album is a slight change of direction and is his best since 2003's 'Where Shall You Take Me'. Much more of a band recording than recent efforts, both Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad, who adds harmonies throughout, were heavily involved. He also mixes acoustic and electric guitars to excellent effect, allowing the songs to sound far more energetic than previously. Opener 'Gillian Was A Horse' is upbeat and extremely catchy with it's 'I'm no lie detector/ He's no bullshitter' hook and 'Go First' takes an introspective lyric and turns it into an almost anthemic song.
Fans of old-school Jurado will probably turn to 'Last Rights', a really gorgeous ballad with a nagging melody and 'Best Dress', a lovely country sing-along to start with, but also featuring some driving electric guitar as the song builds. This is a feature of the record, Jurado keeps the storytelling and touching lyrics of previous albums but 'Caught In The Trees' has an added energy and vibrancy. This may win him a lot of new fans.
7.5
['Caught In The Trees' is out now on import from Secretly Canadian and out in the UK on 27/10]
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