David Lowery : The Palace Guards

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/DavidLoweryThePalaceGuards.mp3" alt=" " />Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven frontman David Lowery strips out some of the irony, but not his wry nature, on his solo debut, <i>The Palace...
7.9 429
2011 

David Lowery : The Palace Guards Singer/songwriter David Lowery has been fronting the ironic alt-country outfit Cracker (QRO spotlight on) for nearly two decades now.  He’s also reunited with his eighties pre-Cracker outfit, Camper Van Beethoven.  The two acts have even toured together (QRO review) – twice, now (QRO review).  So did he need to put out a ‘solo record’?  Actually, The Palace Guards is perfectly fitting for a solo Lowery jaunt, allowing him to let his songs fly, without having to do much more with them than that.  It’s not as varied as his Cracker or Camper material, and certainly more stripped, but also not as ironic, letting a bit more of his feelings show on a sad sway down the river.

This is still David Lowery, and there’s certainly a wry air to The Palace Guards, from the folksy & cheery twang to opener "Raise ‘Em Up On Honey" to the enjoyable finishing ditty "Submarine".  But there’s also a resigned air, sometimes funny – like "Honey", the following title track (QRO mmm-mp3 review), and definitely "Baby, All Those Girls Meant Nothing To Me" – but it’s mostly sad & sweet.  "Deep Oblivion" starts this journey down a slow-moving river, and Lowery sways nicely on it early on, and "Marigold" & "Big Life" later on.  But the twin peaks come in the middle, in first the strong & sad "Ah, You Left Me", then (after "Those Girls") in the impressive mix of Americana folk story and Arabian Nights-style tale, "I Sold the Arabs the Moon" (with surely a pinch of Bowie, at least for inspiration…).

David Lowery’s story-telling gift has come out in live shows (QRO review), but can also be seen on his blog, 300 Songs, where he’s currently written not only about the songs on The Palace Guards, but also his somewhat reluctant making of the record in this digital age (including actual praise for record labels, and suspicion of online music magazines…).  At only nine, rather spare tracks, The Palace Guards might just be a stop on Lowery’s long journey, but a singular and sweet one.

MP3 Stream: "I Sold the Arabs the Moon"

{audio}/mp3/files/David Lowery – I Sold the Arabs the Moon.mp3{/audio}

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