Album Review: Justin Townes Earle - Absent Fathers

Justin Townes Earle was born with Americana music coursing through his veins, his unquestionable pedigree compounded by a Deep South childhood and immersion in the disparate sounds of that fertile region of the US.

His incredibly prolific solo career has to date primarily explored strains of folk and blues, but on his sixth long-player, Absent Fathers, a companion piece to last year’s Single Mothers – the two originally envisioned as a double-album – he’s subtly shifted focus to the country end of the spectrum.

This is partly due to his new band and primarily the addition of Paul Niehaus (Lambchop, Calexico), whose pedal steel adds a mournful beauty throughout and especially on pared-back pair, Least I Got The Blues and Day And Night. The laid-back, cruisy tempo of the arrangements also abets his wounded troubadour persona perfectly, as does Earle’s adroit lyricism – his weary worldview dissects relationships by honing in on the devil in the detail (soul-crushing opener, Farther From Me, and the pleading soul of When The One You Love Loses Faith), yet retains that effortless ability to pluck heartstrings in a way that’s wistful rather than worrisome. Subtle humour shines through on Slow Monday and Someone Will Pay, before the album proper concludes with the beautiful acoustic melancholy of Looking For A Place To Land.

It’s fascinating to watch Earle steadfastly sticking to his chosen course of dealing with his demons through the music he loves, and (so far) coming up trumps at every turn.