All That Reckoning

Trish McBee
Reviewed 2019-01-16

This is the Candian band, Cowboy Junkies, first studio album in six years. "Stately North American noise, close to blues, touching country, shading rock." Beautiful voices, lovely songwriting, and dense but calming music. Politically charged, addressing current political and social issues.

RIYL: Bowie, Robert Fripp, Velvet Underground
FCC CLEAN!
Recommended tracks: 5, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10

1) All that Reckoning (Part 1) (3:52) Dark, slow-blooming bassline

2) **When We Arrive (4:31) Melodic, slow tempo, vocal reverb, tambourine, brushed percussion, sustained organ.

3) *The Things We Do To Each Other (3:56) (Focus track for radio according to the promoter; not my favorite track, though). A song about the politics of fear unleashing the forces of hate. Soft beat. Builds slowly, underpinned by a low, somber guitar solo, Fades out at the end.

4) Wooden Stairs (4:22) Downbeat, dark, Very personal lyrics. Slow. Not one of my favorite tracks.

5) ***Sing Me A Song (4:20) Upbeat rocker, full band. Fuzzy electric guitar. Cool echo vocals. Nice lead guitar. Hard stop. My personal favorite track.

6) Mountain Stream (4:51) Slow, methodical. interesting lead guitar solo in the middle. Melancholic, beautiful vocals, lyrics and subtle melody. Hard stop.

7) *Missing Children (3:40) Rocking guitar, bluesy drag and drawl"

8) Shining Teeth (4:41) Slow, a metaphorical piece of relatable lyricism and wistful guitar riffs.

9) **Nose Before Ear (4:15) Cowboy Junkies signature sound. Medium tempo. Great acoustic guitar leads towards the middle and at the end.

10) *All That Reckoning (4:29) Rocker with fuzz box guitar. I like this version better than the Pt. 1 version (track 1).

11) The Possessed (3:23) Simple ukulele strum, soft vocals, tambourine