Damien Jurado
Caught in Trees (2008)

I was listening to this album recently while sitting in a cafe, it was raining and the Christmas lights had all come out, I had a drink with me and a Haruki Murakami novel. It was a rare moment where things seem to fit perfectly.

Caught in trees is a fairly pleasant listen, Jurado brings about a softer more intimate quality to his alt folk/indie effort this time. For those new to Jurado, his voice reminds me of a softer Dave Grohl in the style of a uncertain Glen Hansard. While his
voice is fragile, it is never weak. Jurado has a knack for expressing an aching sorrow as demonstrated in "Paper Kites"

The album has a pretty even mix of folkish tunes with singer songwriter pieces. Some of the songs would not be out of place in a Wong Kar Wai movie, they are quiet yet powerful and while it starts off darkly comic, it eventually turns into dark and dreary paths you are not sure you want to follow. The album starts with single and radio friendly sounding "Gillian was a Horse" which curiously sounds like a song the Wallflowers would write, but there the similarities end. The lyrics are far more brutal "It's midnight and I give up/I'm tired of lying for you/I will not hold your hands and pretend I'm your lover". Jurado manages to extract the bleakness from every word while he sings about love lost and broken relationships.

The harmonization and chemistry with band mate vocalist/cellist Jenna Conrad is remarkable, especially on mid-album "Last Rights". She also has to be credited for holding up at least half of the tracks.

Adding a cello and piano seem to be on par for any record made these days, but here the instrumentation threatens to overwhelm the lyrics, but thankfully it never does. Still the tracks with acoustic guitar like "Sheets" work the best in a way reminiscent of a folkish Neil Young.

'Caught in Trees' is a bit hard to take to at first, but give it time and it will grow on you.

Listen to: "Gillian was a Horse", "Sheets", "Last Rights"