Beautifully crafted songs with dark lyrical themes and upbeat arrangements, Elvis Perkins In Dearland songs are rife with contradiction. Perkins’ father Anthony died of AIDS and his mother Berry Berenson was aboard a plane that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. Tragedy is the underlying context to many of the songs, but Perkins embraces the New Orleans funeral band tradition (mournful music towards the grave, happier music back to the wake). Perkins plays guitar and sings with a band of multi-instrumentalists.

No FCCs. Play any, but my favorites are 1, 8, 9, & 10

1. (4:21) Guitar and noises intro. Hooky vocals with crisp drums and wobbly organ then harmonica solo.
2. (2:50) Acoustic guitar strummed over up-tempo percussion and chorus sung in harmony with playful piano and electric guitar flourishes.
3. (4:46) Slow pace ballad advanced by piano chords, brush-beat marching drum and organ. Strings come in the last measures.
4. (4:09) Idiosyncratic pop lyrical arrangement with a gospel touch. Quickly strummed guitar, marching drum and upright bass back the vocals.
5. (6:07) Acoustic strummed guitar and vocals in the main with other instruments lower in the mix. New Orleans brass jumps in halfway through.
6. (5:07) A dirge with vocals sung in harmony, jangly percussion and a trombone solo.
7. (4:11) Acoustic guitar with vocals, brass starts low and rises up and down. Strings strike up halfway through.
8. (3:38) A dirge rearranged into an upbeat, frenetic march. Infectiously complicated.
9. (3:49) Piano chords and shaken percussion and vocals. A bevy of strings round out the piece.
10. (5:20) Harmonica intro over drums and piano. Vocals enter with strummed guitar.