Rhett Miller – The Messenger (CD)
Product Details
Rhett Miller has spent three decades as one of American rock's most reliable melodists, first sharpening his craft fronting the Old 97's through the sweat and sawdust of the Dallas bar scene before building a solo catalog that rewards close listening. Woodstock has a long history of pulling artists toward their most honest work, and the looseness Miller found there with Sam Cohen feels less like a stylistic pivot than a long-overdue exhale.
Old 97's founding member Rhett Miller returns with his 7th solo album, The Messenger. Recorded earlier over five days at The Isokon in Woodstock, NY with producer/musician Sam Cohen (Kevin Morby, Benjamin Booker), The Messenger sees Miller playing it faster and looser than perhaps any other time in his quarter century career, instilling what might be his most personal songs to date with a groovy limberness that belies the reflective darkness within. Backed by a white hot backing combo comprised of Cohen (Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Pedal Steel Guitar, Piano, Organ, Second Drumset), Brian Betancourt (Bass), and Ray Rizzo (Drums), Miller goes deep into his own youthful experiences with suicide and depression, placing "a long distance phone call to myself as a 14-year-old" on surprisingly buoyant new songs like "The Human Condition" and "Permanent Damage."
Tracklist
UPC: 880882338824
Label: ATO Records
Release Date: 11.9.18
Format: CD