Album Eyes On The Lines
Artist Steve Gunn
You’ve heard Steve Gunn before. Even if you haven’t heard his work with Kurt Vile or Dirt Black Oak you’ve still heard him; in the wind-down at the end of a barbecue, on the bus home after a long day; in moments of melancholy contentment. The prevailing image is of Gunn and his band closing Austin City Limits as the sunset dissolves into lilac dusk.
Guitars are the focal point of every song here; they cascade elegantly on ‘Full Moon Tide’, intertwine playfully with the bass in the melodic contours of ‘Night Wander’, wind hypnotically on ‘Park Bench Smile’; a joyous blend of tones from mellow electric to bright acoustic. The love Gunn has for his instrument is clear, and is complemented superbly by shuffling percussion and mellow bass.
All of these elements make for a beautiful listen, but the sound doesn’t diminish the core of Gunn’s appeal: his inherent storytelling ability. The songs here stretch out like a highway through the desert and subtly blossom into poignant vignettes of ordinary people trying to find their way.
‘Ancient Jules’ arrives on a clean guitar line feeling like a sunrise over the prairie. “You were lost / On the road from a different way” Gunn intones, evoking the struggles of ordinary folk trying to change paths and the confusion of the interim period; this is the first line. The theme of uncertainty permeates the whole record, and on ‘Conditions Wild’ the exuberant chorus faces the shadows of doubt “beyond the path you know”, and effortlessly vaults over them.
‘Ark’ brings proceedings to a close with Gunn “callin’ it on a restless feeling”. The track drifts into the future with Gunn at the mast staring into the horizon. No resolution is reached, but the melancholy undercurrent throughout the album pretty much acts as a warning not to expect one. Instead he fades into obscurity again, but with at least a bit more understanding gleaned, on what is a truly sublime addition to Gunn’s gleaming canon.
In a nutshell: If ‘Way Out Weather’ was his creative peak, this is Steve Gunn’s quietly confident assurance that he’s still an extraordinary songwriting talent.
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