Right on heels of an EP and 09’s Year in the Kingdom, J. Tillman (drums, Fleet Foxes) is back again with his signature sparse, lo-fi soundscapes on Singing Ax. His seventh album is filled with beautifully nuanced storytelling, soft vocals, and the simple instrumentation of a lone acoustic guitar and strategically placed ambient sounds. Tillman may be prolific, but he has yet to move beyond the boundaries of the genre he has mastered, although the fact that he eschews instruments that he has used on past releases (banjo, harmonica and dulcimer) for a single guitar indicates a move toward one end of the folk continuum – a singing ax indeed. Standout tracks include “One Task” and the upbeat “Tillman’s Rag.” Singing Ax is more of the same, but when the bar is as high as Tillman sets it, we’ll keep listening. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Great Lake Swimmers, Horse Feathers, Damien Jurado, Mark Kozelek, Phosphorescent, Samamidon