On quitting Grant Lee Buffalo in 1999, Phillips holed himself up in the basement of producer Jon Brion for three dark October days, finally emerging with a handful of witching-hour spirituals. Previously available only at gigs and online, Ladies’ Love Oracle is the result: a dimly-lit acoustic suite of minor chord subtlety, artful melodies and sparse backdrops. At times, he sounds eerily Lennonesque (“Heavenly”; “Don’t Look Down”), at others like a delicate Elliott Smith. The slide guitar of “Folding” and a couple of percussive numbers aside, the pace remains fixed (indeed, there’s no sign of his dynamic-shifting baritone amongst the whispers), but it’s an understated treat nonetheless. Rob Hughes
On quitting Grant Lee Buffalo in 1999, Phillips holed himself up in the basement of producer Jon Brion for three dark October days, finally emerging with a handful of witching-hour spirituals. Previously available only at gigs and online, Ladies’ Love Oracle is the result: a dimly-lit acoustic suite of minor chord subtlety, artful melodies and sparse backdrops. At times, he sounds eerily Lennonesque (“Heavenly”; “Don’t Look Down”), at others like a delicate Elliott Smith. The slide guitar of “Folding” and a couple of percussive numbers aside, the pace remains fixed (indeed, there’s no sign of his dynamic-shifting baritone amongst the whispers), but it’s an understated treat nonetheless.
Rob Hughes
