Jeffrey Foucault – Stripping Cane
Its not exactly a Rockwellian homecoming. In Cross Of Flowers, the opening track to Jeffrey Foucaults new album Stripping Cane, a desolate landscape greets a wary, returning journeyer. First he sees a roadside cross of flowers, then a barren orchard, a burned-out shack and a thousand sparrows falling. (Im no ornithologist or augur, but Id take that last one as a bad enough omen to turn around and head back the other way.)
Yet despite the bleak welcome-home backdrop, there is still a subtle shard of hope in Foucaults soulful voice as he absorbs the sober images and repeats, Im coming home. Mix in the layers of buoyant acoustic instruments and you get a powerful juxtaposition of dark and light, one that graces much of this rich sophomore release.
Musically, Foucaults tunes bounce between the percussive guitar-picking blues of Chris Smither, the sparse songs of Greg Brown, and the acoustic playfulness of Leo Kottke. Yet the winsome vocals on Dont Look For Me or The Bluest Blade could place those songs equally well on a Lyle Lovett or Norah Jones album. Lyrically, the songwriters plains poetry hes originally from southeastern Wisconsin is filled with landscape similes and captivating tales of wanderlust and loss.
Its hard to tell whether Foucaults songwriting and delivery have improved since his 2001 debut Miles From The Lightning, or if producer and multi-instrument wizard David Goodrich and background vocalists Anita Suhanin (we need to hear more from her) and Kris Delmhorst bring out his best. Either way, at 28, Foucault is a bright young star on the Americana scene.