Rich in the sounds of Americana, and sharing its melancholy beauty, Caole’s Slow Hearts EP is one lushly instrumented gift of a release. The brushed drums, soothed backing vocals and tightly picked guitars of Wish You Were Where sets the tone with Caole coming across somewhere between Gram Parsons and Ryan Adams. The uptempo, solid alt-country vocal melody of One Of You Again follows on and offers similar exquisite technique and composition. Please Don’t Try To Reach Me Now brings the harmonica on board and alongside it some Nashville Skyline-era Dylan to the mix. Final track Don’t Lead Me Astray’s relatively sparse intro lends it an otherworldly timelessness which then shifts briefly into almost mediaeval-psychedelia when everything kicks in. It’s really quite bewitching. One potentially divisive issue could be Caole’s wavering vocal which, while to this listener sounds emotive in its occasional fragility, may not be to universal taste. Nevertheless, this is top draw roots music.
SMR
www.myspace.com/joshuacaole
