Jesus Of Sad
Palo Santo, 2020
8/10
A songwriter with a lengthy career already, Salim Nourallah has been releasing solo albums since 2003, and has also produced artists like the Old 97’s, and The Damnwells, among others. Though he’s recently released very lengthy albums, here Nourallah offers us just 4 tunes, but each one is certainly worth spending quality time with.
The title track starts the record with Nourallah’s soft and fluid vocals against gentle instrumentation where Matt Hibbard’s piano prowess accents the affair, and “Born With A Broken Heart” follows with a dense beat in a very playful atmosphere where cellos are even in attendance. An appropriate title for a song about his mother’s illness that would take her life right after the song was completed, it’s the EP highlight, as Nourallah gets both adventurous and cautious.
The back half of the listen offers the cleverly titled “This Doesn’t Feel Like Peace, Love And Understanding”, where retro-pop ideas are present in spades, as is strategic reverb, and the songwriting collaboration with Rhett Miller on the piano focused and underlying fuzz of the subdued alt-rocker “Misanthrope” ends the listen with both a full version and a bare piano version.
An EP that takes nods to Nick Lowe with its title, Nourallah certainly draws comparisons to Lowe as well, as his veteran skill and prolific experience make Jesus Of Sad another essential installment of his atypical alt-country song craft.
Travels well with: Sammy Strittmatter- Get Out Of The City; Krief- Dovetale