Richard Buckner, Meadow

reviewed by dave heaton

Like his 2005 album Dents and Shells, Meadow gives Richard Buckner's solitary songs more of a pop-rock backbone, if a slightly darker-tinged one this time around. The presence of two ex-Guided by Voices members in his backing band doesn't equal "rock" like it seems like it might, but instead – particularly in the case of guitarist Doug Gillard – results in a diversity of tone. As in his solo work (and even within GBV's arena rock), Gillard's guitar can quickly shade a song, take it in directions pretty or harsh or mysterious. His playing suits the more melodic direction Buckner's taking his songs – it helps give them an ear-friendly, accessible surface while retaining the mystery and folk music sense of dark history.

Buckner, a man who once translated the Spoon River Anthology into song, has an author's sense for character, circumstance, and language. His lyrics read as more fragmented than ever, as if dialogue, first-person pleas, vivid scene-setting ("another night is glowing by") and narrative observations ("coming back has spun a month of unremembered moves") have been cut up and pieced together in an enigmatic way by an omniscient author. But it doesn't sound fragmented. When sung by Buckner, who has quite a distinct voice (low yet full of depth), it sounds of one, a continuous story filled with spaces but also vivid places and people and feelings and ideas. It's a quilt, like that on Meadow's cover: one that joins homegrown folk tales and oral histories to intimate, shadowy tunes.

Meadow's 10-song structure is perfect for Buckner's approach, how it's direct yet leaves open spaces. The album ends in a perfect way as well, with "The Tether and the Tie." It's an oblique final note – a goodbye and a provocation – that's particularly beautiful for how open-ended yet hard-edged it is.

{www.mergerecords.com}