Forever Just Beyond
Ramseur/Thirty Tigers, 2020
9/10
On his first album in half a decade, Eef Barzelay, aka Clem Snide, pulled in the producing talent of Scott Avett (of The Avett Brothers) and recorded this career highlight on a farm in North Carolina where members of Band of Horses and Dashboard Confessional were on hand.
“Roger Ebert” starts the listen with percussion and keys as soft, dreamy vocals guide the atmospheric folk tune, and “Don’t Bring No Ladder” follows with a fuller display of country tinged indie-rock, where spirited guitar work highlights the setting.
Further along, “Sorry Charlie” finds the listen entering gritty alt-country territory, while “Easy” finds a soulful place to reside with plenty of elegance. “True Shape Of Your Heart”, one of the album’s best, then offers some of the best singing in a warm albeit devastating environment where Barzelay channels his inner Nick Drake.
Near the end, “Ballad of Eef Barzelay” flows with agile acoustic guitar in the bare, introspective landscape and “Some Ghost”, which was co-written by Avett, finishes the listen with guitar and keys working together with much attention to mood.
The last decade has not been easy on Barzelay, who has undergone some of life’s most difficult turmoil, but it provided fodder for this incredible, heartfelt and forthright album that is sure to be one of the year’s best.
Travels well with: Damien Jurado- In The Shape Of A Storm; Joe Pug- The Flood In Color