A. Lee Edwards slows it all down and goes a layer deeper in his second interpretation of the sounds of his heart, with beautiful strings complementing the spacious production and bringing listeners to their knees through his identifiable loss.
18 months on from Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. 1, comes a beautifully crafted follow-up that delves deeper into the most emotive aspects of the first. We hear a clear gear shift from his jangly, mid-to-upbeat country sound to a heavy, emotionally introspective set of songs. If the songs on the first album sounded like a band of brothers jamming to the sound of one man’s heart, this album feels like Edwards is very much alone in darkness, reaching the kind of distance inside that can only be achieved in isolation. A lot of what gets the listener to really feel this approach is a testament to the recording and mastering process, which must be highlighted when looking into this album. The album was recorded at Echo Mountain Recording Studios by John Wood, who is best known for the three albums Nick Drake blessed us with. He seems to have felt that a stripped-back, spacious and tender approach was the only way forward for this heartfelt set of songs. The album was then mastered by Simon Heyworth in Devon, England, where the up-front, intense feel of this album was added, which transports us into the same room as Edwards as we share his blues. As the album starts, the listener is transported straight into the guitar sounds and the track feel of the slower, later songs from Johnny Cash’s American 5 sessions. There was something about the way Rick Ruben chose and mixed the instruments on those albums that made them tug at the heartstrings long before we heard a word from Cash. That sonic atmosphere and emotional weight are here in this album. It takes you back to the likes of If You Could Read My Mind and the other heartbreaking tunes of that ilk on his later cover albums. If there has been an effort made to echo the guitar sound and gravity of the great American V, it has succeeded.
The album rolls along effortlessly with beautiful guitar, lyrics, and strings. There aren’t many instruments that understand true human sorrow like a cello, and when the bow pulls across the strings at the start of Come On Sun, we feel every ounce of that. A bed of cello cushions the whole song, while high-pitched strings sound like crying. Instruments echoing the subject matter is a massive theme on this album.
On this album, Edwards gives the feeling that he is looking at what it is to be human, almost existential for the deeper listener. It will open up a grieving soul and hold up a mirror to it. Taking it back to the opening of the album, in How Blue, Edwards states, “Words Won’t do, I’ve tried”, If he has not hit the person or people who the album is referring to, he has definitely hit the discerning listener and strikes a massive chord with the listeners among us who has suffered profound loss, felt yearning, or finds catharsis in writing. The album feels like a love letter. A letter to the powers that be for peace. Beautiful.
