Next Town’s Trees
Self-Released, 2023
9/10
The Idaho folk musician Jesse Blake Rundle welcomes pop, electronica, rock and classical ideas into his thoughtful song craft, where these 8 songs contain plenty of rich sounds that surround many changes in his life.
“Fire” opens the listen with warm acoustic strumming and smooth vocals from Rundle, as Jonny Enright’s soaring trombone and Nate Agenbroad’s agile drumming complement the lush climate, and “Fools & Ghosts” follows with a thicker template that touches on nostalgic rock ideas thanks to the thumping drums and Agenbroad’s well timed bass.
At the halfway point, “White Hot” offers a bare and very intimate ballad that showcases Rundle’s poetic pipes and mesmerizing guitar playing, while “Yes, I’m Angry” illuminates Yoed Nir’s cello and string arrangements for the orchestral feel of the album’s best.
The title track and “Stones” exits the listen, where the former emits both a dreamy and mysterious quality of cozy, adventurous songwriting, and the latter benefits from sophisticated piano and powerful singing that’s highly emotive.
An album that was penned when Rundle was departing the church, coming to terms with his sexuality, starting a relationship with a man and embracing sobriety, this is a very well thought out listen full of self-examination from a superbly creative mind.
Travels well with: Radical Face- Therapy; Peter Mulvey & Sistastrings- Love Is The Only Thing