Bukka Allen – Confidante

Arty, airy and ethereal, Bukka Allen’s first solo record since 1999’s Sweet Valentine is a moody, introspective, highly poetic collection of originals. Like his father Terry, Bukka is a master of dark, brooding melody and lyrics that cut to the ethical quick with surgical elegance, such as “Slip through the hands of an angel/Land on your back upside down” from “Behold What You Found”. The effect is heightened by his partners in the ensemble Screen Door Music, guitarist Rob Gjersoe and cellist Brian Standefer, who follow Allen from the symphonic (on “Run”) to the psychedelic (the searing title cut). In its entirety, Confidante feels like a movie score — not surprising, since that’s the primary avenue of Screen Door Music. But the disc also proves a fine vehicle for the exploding talents of a rocking sideman who is developing into an accomplished lyricist and an arranger of music that goes far beyond narrow genre considerations.