|
Lately
Ryan
Adams
has
been
revisiting
the
country
rock
of
his
early
career:
first
with
Cold
Roses,
the
two-disc
set
Adams
and
his
band
the
Cardinals
put
out
just
a
few
months
ago;
and
now
on
Jacksonville
City
Nights,
an
unadulterated
return
to
form.
Nights
finds
him
digging
deeper
than
ever
into
the
genre
to
suckle
on
its
dirt-clotted
roots.
Adams
stakes
out
a
fairly
small
plot
of
land,
which
gives
these
fourteen
tracks
a
purity
of
spirit:
He
explores
with
unwavering
dedication
the
shuffle,
sway
and
gallop
of
traditional
country
music,
as
channeled
through
the
filter
of
Seventies
country
rock.
Taking
cues
from
Southern
bards
such
as
Gram
Parsons
and
Townes
Van
Zandt,
Jacksonville
City
Nights
is
also
classic
Adams
--
earthy,
rich
with
pathos
and
almost
disconcertingly
dedicated
to
the
idea
that
life's
only
two
constants
are
losing
a
lover
you
probably
didn't
deserve
in
the
first
place
and
losing
yourself
in
the
bottom
of
a
fifth
of
Jack
Daniel's.
The
standout
tracks
are
the
ones
where
a
wearily
bowed
fiddle
or
heavy-hearted
piano
vamp
matches
Adams'
wounded
honky-tonk
moan.
On
the
haunting
ballad
"Dear
John"
--
a
duet
with
Norah
Jones,
who
ought
to
make
a
country
album
of
her
own
--
the
devil
is
in
the
details
of
a
marriage
gone
wrong:
overdue
bills,
a
miscarriage,
the
cats
who
"went
missing
from
the
window
you
never
fixed
and
the
door
you
never
latched."
The
prolific
Adams
has
got
another
album
due
before
year's
end.
If
Jacksonville
City
Nights
is
any
indication
of
where
he's
headed,
we
could
be
on
the
cusp
of
his
best
one
yet. |
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