The singer/songwriter has been putting out alt-country with his own twist for over a decade-and-a-half, and it’s certainly in full force on Quixotic, but there’s still a mix of styles amid the twenty-three pieces. The record does somewhat lack in the standout tracks department, but there’s also precious few swings and misses, creating a well-worn path.
The first disc starts off on a relaxed note with the alt-country strum of “St. Cloud” and the more pop-friendly “Confidential”, and it begins one of the best runs on the double-disc. “Louisiana” is more energized, like the bayou itself, while “Do in the Dark” goes into the heart-breaking quiet wistfulness, with the catchy “Sorry Son” capping it out. The second half of the first disc is a little more uneven as Keating experiments a little farther, such as with the sedate but haunting monotone of “Te Amo”, the alt-road blues of “Mystified”, or the old man country-blues on “Only Let You Down”. A few pieces are little too slow, like the pretty but somewhat boring “Little By Little” or the touch overwrought finisher “Now We’re Home”, but the first disc holds up well, all on its own.
Yet it’s one of the virtues of Quixotic that it’s got a whole second half (the second disc is technically one track longer, but that’s including the sub-minute penultimate “Valhalla Waltz”). Like the first disc, the second starts off strong with the catchy, upbeat riff “Lion’s Share of Nothing”, and the similar in style if not lyrical tone “Do You Want (To Not Be Lonely With Me)”. But whereas the first disc bunched its best tracks at the beginning, the second peppers them throughout. Perhaps the best on either disc is middle number “Romeoville”, a grand, touching, effective, epic sad love song, but the following “Before My Wife Gets Home” is a little obvious. There’s some great world-weary honky-tonk on “They Came In May”, and a dirty blues procession with “Skin and Bone”, but record finisher “Book of Changes” is kind of plodding in its touch.
Like any double-LP (though Quixotic is more like one of those long, single vinyl records of old), there’s perhaps too much on this record, but it’s surprising how little of it is ‘skippable’. What’s more impressive is that it doesn’t feel like its repeating itself or the ground that it’s covered – all the more so considering it’s in the singer/songwriter arena, a place where retreading can be common. Either disc from Matt Keating can stand up on its own, or together, in some grand iTunes mix.
MP3 Stream: "Romeoville"
– Michelle Moretti
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