Eef Barzelay swaps partners and still comes up with the goods.
After hooking up with a band fan, Scot Avett of The Avett Brothers, on his previous album, “Forever Just Beyond“, Clem Snide’s main man Eef Barzelay has repeated the trick on his latest release “Oh Smokey“. The fan this time around is Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horseman and Hiss Golden Messenger fame who plays much of the music to be heard here with Barzelay writing about the collaberation, “With a slow hand and a tender heart Josh laid down just about everything you hear on “Oh Smokey“. Why I merely stumbled in and sang my lines.”
Despite the change of a primary partner in crime, “Oh Smokey” continues much in the same vein as its predecessor with Barzelay’s voice immediately recognisable while the songs continue to portray him as somewhat lost amidst personal turmoil.
Barzelay describes “Oh Smokey” as “slow, sad songs about God and death” and, true to his word, the centrepiece of the album, ‘All Was Revealed’, is a delicious hypnagogic delve into that moment when a bright light beckons the soul as the body collapses. It’s a glorious song, surrounded by a gorgeous arrangement which is delivered at a funereal pace. Throughout the album the overall sense is one of desolation despite the opening words of the first track, ‘Free’, being “Call all the sunbeams.” ‘Free’ itself is an acoustic thrash of a song, embellished by swards of electric guitar and a female chorus sounding as if they were transported in from a Leonard Cohen album. ‘At Your Command‘ is a twisty turnable acoustic number which has the autumnal hues of a Nick Drake song while ‘Air Show Disaster‘, another primarily acoustic number, is an acute dissection of a romantic break up. There’s more regret to be heard as electric guitar grumbles punctuate ‘Smokey’, a song which meanders quite wonderfully in a Neil Young fashion while ‘Angel Canyon (Song For Dan)’, a song decidedly set in the Barzerlay universe, imagines an afterlife after having chosen a good place to die. It might seem morbid on paper but it’s actually a wonderfully tender ode to life, death and all points in between.
If “Forever Just Beyond” was considered a return to form for Clem Snide, then “Oh Smokey” goes one better. It’s a gorgeous listen with lots of food for thought.
