Earth — The Bees Made Honey In The lion's Skull
Brought on board this time around we have Bill Frisell appearing for three songs showing some real emotion and subdued fire in his soloing and guitar texturing. With Live Bassist Don McGreevy making his first full length appearance here too. Steve Moore returning with some heady Hammond organ playing as well as jazzed touched & dramatic piano playing.
As an album it shows them moving further away from their doom origins more into the darker and expansive heart of American blues, country and rock- with a real sense and understanding of cinematics and instrumental building. They add in more varied emotional hues then before, with more sonic highs & lows too. This often has the Majestic air of an endless road trip through changing American landscape from desert plans, to vast towering evergreen, to yellows and reds of leaf fall, to endless winding coastal roads.
With this they’ve widen their appeal weaving in melodic and epic touches, yet at the same time keeping tied to their original remit of making heavy and felt music. It’s an album to wonder into and get lost in, that’s very rewarding of repeated plays as new instrumental stokes, textures and depth appear. It will go down as not just a classic Earth record, but also a classic and atmospheric rock record that I can see myself returning to again and again in the years to come.