Undoubtedly one of the hardest working artists today, singer-songwriter-guitarist and Mississippi native Cory Branan has been winning over fans for decades with his relentless touring schedule. His recorded albums have been equally impressive, and this new one\u2014and first on the esteemed Blue \u00c9lan label\u2014has the troubadour welcoming some well-known friends for the occasion.<\/p>\n
Branan starts the listen off with the thumping, guitar soaring \u201cWhen In Rome, When In Memphis,\u201d where his inviting and wise voice steers us through gritty country-rock that spotlights Eric Slick\u2019s proficient drums and Jarrad K\u2019s energetic piano.<\/p>\n
\u201cO Charlene\u201d then brings a calmer pace of eloquent storytelling that carries a warm, rootsy appeal, while \u201cThat Look I Lost\u201d recruits bright brass, soulful backing vocals and strings to a very retro formula that shows us just how diverse Branan can be.<\/p>\n
In the middle, the thick textures of \u201cWhen I Leave Here\u201d lead into darker areas of song craft that touch on Branan’s punk past, though it\u2019s the very descriptive storytelling of \u201cPocket God\u201d that truly illustrates his skill with wordplay, as the setting carries a very reflective, somber tone.<\/p>\n
One of the many guests, Garrison Starr duets with Branan on the harmonic and crisp Americana of \u201cWaterfront,\u201d and \u201cOf Two Minds\u201d exits the listen with a dreamy appeal of lifting vocals and playful, atmospheric instrumentation.<\/p>\n
A couple of guests present across the listen are Jason Isbell and Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem), who contribute their inimitable pipes, while Robbie Crowell and Spencer Cullum bring bass and steel guitar respectively. This is Branan’s sixth album and his greatest, although I probably said that about the last one, and will probably also say that about the next one. The guy is just one of the best songwriters alive today, and he keeps getting better, somehow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":34864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8884],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-46731","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-cory-branan","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46731"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}