Bill Callahan – Woke on a Whaleheart
I never really understood why Bill Callahan felt the need to discard the Smog moniker. Smog was always basically a solo project anyhow, so it’s not like he needed to strike out on his own or anything, so why the switch? Well, in much the same was as Nick Cave decided to renounce the Bad Seeds umbrella in order to go a slightly different direction with Grinderman, Callahan was apparently tired of hiding behind a pseudonym and wanted to take a slightly non-Smog direction without necessarily interfering with the legacy of Smog. Fair enough.
His new album is only vaguely different from Smog things, but it seems to be a significant difference to me. Basically, it is a subtle shift of tone. Where Smog was quite dark and even morose at times (these are good things, don’t get me wrong), there’s a jaunty cheerfulness to this record which is oddly un-Callahanlike. Imagine someone waking from a lifetime of struggle to discover that life just isn’t all that bad, a fresh gin has just been poured, with plenty of lime, the sun’s out and there’s something good on the record player. That is this album.
The pace and pitch of the album should be familiar to all Smoggies – plenty of laid-back baritone and gentle building of atmosphere – but the little touches, like the duet on Sycamore, take this a world away from the introversion of previous work. Absolutely delightful, and one you won’t get whinged at for playing in public, which is not always a given with my record collection.
Bill Callahan – Sycamore
Bill Callahan – From the Rivers to the Oceans
