Back From Babylon
Self-Released, 2019
8/10
A Texan who is well versed in country music, this sophomore album from Joe Buchanan injects influence from the Torah into his Southern sounds, as the troubadour delivers 14 tracks of agile and well thought out song craft.
“Sing A Song” starts the listen with Buchanan’s rural melodies and country fueled textures amid the bare beauty, and “How Good It Is” follows with a sublime delivery of rustic Americana where organs stand out in the full band setting.
In the middle, “Lion And Lamb” recruits a timeless approach of strong storytelling and cautious, organic instrumentation, while “Say What You Will” offers a fuller delivery of crisp percussion and a dreamy display of nearly pop influenced ideas. “Better Together”, with Carly Abramson, then aches with sublime melodies on the soothing duet where pedal steel adds much to the formula.
Deeper into the record, “The Unbinding” is a slow burning effort of agile grace, and “Small Town Tonight” ends the listen with a lush arrangement of sweeping melodies dynamic instrumentation.
Self-described as ‘Americana With A Jewish Soul’, Buchanan delivers a listen with much depth as shards of honky-tonk and a healthy amount of twang aren’t far from the surface, this convert to Judaism has plenty of fodder for his feel good tunes.
Travels well with: Nick Nace- Wrestling With The Mystery; Sarah Lee Langford- Two Hearted Rounder