Original Release / Rounder / 1166191452

FLAC / Lossless / Log (100%) / Cue / CD

1. Hearts and Minds
2. Brick Walls
3. Wild Side
4. Down the Highway
5. Bakersfield
6. LivinΓÇÖ On
7. Tears of Change
8. Angel of the Blues
9. Seawall
10. Barricades
11. Shine On

Indie bluegrass band Son Volt emerged from the ruins of Uncle Tupelo, so I was thrilled when their new album Honky Tonk came across my desk. Upon putting it in my car stereo, I was immediately greeted by the cheerfully upbeat opener ΓÇ£Hearts and MindsΓÇ¥ whose lyrics speak of ΓÇ£looking for love outside of dangerΓÇ¥ over a sunny, Cajun-like waltz. The rest of the album is a far more somber affair, with a typical country sound that is constantly being subverted by odd turns of poetic phrase in the lyrics. ΓÇ£Brick WallsΓÇ¥ speaks of a relationship where ΓÇ£thereΓÇÖs more brick walls than bridges on the way to your heartΓÇ¥, and even ΓÇ£Wild SideΓÇ¥, a tribute to a gracious rebel reminds us that ΓÇ£weΓÇÖll all be tested anyway.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£BakersfieldΓÇ¥ seems to be more about a location in the soul than a location on the map, and ΓÇ£Angel of the BluesΓÇ¥ offers an ever-so-slightly more modern sound, which isnΓÇÖt the blues per se but has quite the melancholy mood. ΓÇ£SeawallΓÇ¥ seemingly carries forward the albumΓÇÖs underlying theme of divisions and barriers that was first introduced in ΓÇ£Brick WallsΓÇ¥ and is also referred to in ΓÇ£Barricades.ΓÇ¥ Honky Tonk is an album firmly planted at the intersection of bluegrass, folk and Americana, a beautiful juxtaposition of traditional music with exquisite poetry.