One wonders whether Callahan will ever again do anything as sublime as "Prince Alone In The Studio", from the still-to-be-capitalised-on baroque chamber Americana of 1995's Wild Love. The tentative pop entryism evident on albums like 1999's Knock Knock is largely absent here; instead we have his gruff baritone take us through an increasingly uninteresting outlook on love and life. "Butterflies Drowned In Wine" tries to be avant-garde Dire Straits, but lacks the authentic duende of Jim White. Highlights are the eerie "Our Anniversary" and the quite fabulous, out-of-tempo prayer "Driving", which, with its freeform drumming and banjo commentary, forges previously unimagined links between The Carter Family and Pharoah Sanders.
One wonders whether Callahan will ever again do anything as sublime as “Prince Alone In The Studio”, from the still-to-be-capitalised-on baroque chamber Americana of 1995’s Wild Love. The tentative pop entryism evident on albums like 1999’s Knock Knock is largely absent here; instead we have his gruff baritone take us through an increasingly uninteresting outlook on love and life. “Butterflies Drowned In Wine” tries to be avant-garde Dire Straits, but lacks the authentic duende of Jim White. Highlights are the eerie “Our Anniversary” and the quite fabulous, out-of-tempo prayer “Driving”, which, with its freeform drumming and banjo commentary, forges previously unimagined links between The Carter Family and Pharoah Sanders.
