Green Mountain Records

****1/2

Reed Foehl is a singer-songwriter with his own distinctive and thoughtful blend of melodic Americana-flecked country-folk. This is his fifth album and as it spun around in my CD player, I asked myself how come I’ve never come across this guy before. From the opening notes of Stealing Starlight I was hooked. He comes across with the same sort of weathered resolve that best exemplifies fellow travellers like Rodney Crowell, Hayes Carll and Slaid Cleaves. His rugged and weary blend of homegrown sentiment and sturdy bluesy Americana results in an affecting combination of heart and humanity. His lyrics are drenched in vulnerability and, at times, even show hints of uncertainty that are the cornerstone of life itself.

Recorded with members of the Band of Heathens at the Finishing School studios in Austin, Reed unites a common thread of emotions wavering between loss, acceptance, and hope. Ten perfectly formed stripped-back songs saturated with Austin’s finest traditions, with just the right amount of jangle and instantly comforting hooks. The collection floats melodiously on rivers of guitars and clouds of pedal steel, on gentle acoustic guitars and hints of piano and harmonica, dusted with some ghostly guitar from Gordy Quist and striking vocal harmonies.

American Miles a beautiful ode to self-determination is a whimsical lament on being in love. It expresses a dichotomy of wanting space while still craving love’s connection. The melody floats through a melancholy thought-cloud of aching vocals and wandering piano lines, with a well-placed harmony garnishing each chorus. If It Rains combines lyrical clarity and architecture of melody in a way that feels like a warm rainy afternoon. It’s a stretched canvas painted with a glorious splash of life and a chorus that is irresistible. With Carousel Horses he delivers something painfully hard and sad into something beautifully inspiring. Running Out Of You is one of the finely-observed songs of a broken relationship I’ve heard in a very long time. Ethereal steel guitar and haunting harmonica only add to the hopelessness of the now dead partnership. The delicate Hello My Dear feels like a conversation that’s melted into a one-sided daydream of hindsight’s tempered embrace.

Reed takes a soul-searching look into a personal mirror, and his lyrics reflect every angle. He deals with the same universal struggles that many face at different points in their life. Unflinchingly introspective and personal songs have no right striking such a universally affecting chord. But don’t tell that to Reed Foehl.

www.reedfoehl.com

March 2019