I first became aware of Eilen when the guys at Radar Records (sadly lost since the earthquakes) in Christchurch recommended Letters from Sinners and Strangers to me. I knew nothing about her but that used to be one of the good things about a good record store. They would learn what you like and make good recommendations based on that. I suppose the Amazon algorithms now do that for you instead.
What I have particularly liked about Eilin's work is that she seems able to produce music that is invested in a variety of different genres while still maintaining a high standard and consistent feel. Her albums are really albums. In particular she brings a mix of folk, blues, country with a californian mexican feeling. Think Calexico or Los Lobos with a great blues vocalist.
2014's Queen of the Minor Key gave an indication that Eilen may have been at the start of a golden patch. A great CD but to my ears Sundown is one step up again. She opens with Worried Mind, perhaps the most conventional song on the album - however she invests it with the Hallelujah Band brings to mind Annie Proulx's Accordian Crimes telling the story of a guitar that wants to let its music out.
Rio Grande and Down The Road really bring the Mexican Blues feeling to the fore - I am still not quite sure which I prefer both are great songs. Rio Grande opens with a Mariachi Band and a great line "This place plays tricks on me - I don’t know why I’m here"
Eilen's lyrics have always been good but again I think these are just magnificent. Even the best lyrics do not always translate on the written page however the lyrics here are thoughtful, concise and evocative. Possibly best exemplified on Half Broke Horse, is she talking about the horse, a relationship, the town or the country.
Half-Broke Horse
Stolen from the desert
In the lost part of the state
Just a half-broke horse
He waits by the gate
No bridled horse can stand him
Or any of his kind
Their hidden laws condemn him
They’re so rigid and refined
He watches on the edge
Dirty coat, shaggy mane
Too wild for this world,
Too tame for mustangs
Grew up in the desert
In the lost part of the state
Cut our teeth on promises
And empty plates
Single-wides and ranches
Disappear before our eyes
These folks here don’t come around
They’re so rigid and refined
We stand on the edge
Dirty coats, ragged hands
We’re strangers to this world
And this new breed of man
And we just got our notice
This whole place is going under
The bank’s whip is on us
We won’t last another summer
They’ll have to come and take us
With the force of ten trains
‘Cause it’s no life worth living
If we don’t hold the reins
Like half-broke horses
From the lost part of the state
We watch in silence
And wait by the gate
On both sides of these bars
We’re one and the same
Too wild for this world,
Too tame for mustangs
Green Hills then evocatively tells the story of the decaying of middle america
I’ve seen your sad towns,
Too barren for ghosts
Empty silos on state highways
Five o’clock light, signposts
I’ve seen your old tracks
Like scars on your hands
Giving nothing to no one
Dried vines, iron brands
For dollar bills our great green hills
Sink down into wasteland
And when they’re gone they leave you alone
To hide your face in the sand
We are not quite 3/4 of the way through the year and I already suspect this will be my favourite album - highly recommended.
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