From exile, Grow man
16 Horsepower - Secret South
If you remember my review from last week, I pinpointed two tracks that were the main highlights and the two sides of 16 Horsepower. Secret South is essentially what happens when they decide to explore the sonic rock and atmospherics of “For Heaven’s Sake.” This album is filled with heavy, slowly-building, atmospheric rock songs ala Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The only song that doesn’t really fit into that description is their cover of “Wayfaring Stranger,” however they do attempt to incorporate atmospherics in between verses, however the basic sound of the song is largely acoustic. The rest of the time is spent utilizing the electric guitar more than they ever had prior to this release. Hints of the Appalachian style bluegrass is still present but it is no longer in the foreground. It seems as if Edwards just needed to get the rock out of his system on this record. And it fits the band well. They are talented at keeping the same tone they had in previous records while doing rock music.
The most stunning thing about this album is the melodies that come through on each song. Either it was by accident or Edwards paid more attention to melodies this time around, but this album contains some of the most beautiful melody lines I have ever heard. “Burning Bush,” “Poor Mouth,” “Secret South,” “Splinters,” and “Nobody ‘Cept You,” are all addictive because the beautiful melodies often betray the lyrical content. When Edwards is speaking of man’s depravity, death, the existential effects of Christ’s sacrifice, the music exudes joy and beauty. One interview shows Edwards explaining that most of the time he writes the music and lyrics separately and he just places lyrics to music. In other words, he doesn’t write the music around the lyrics and vice versa, because he enjoys the dissonance that is sometime presented by writing songs that way. 16 Horsepower is all about dissonance on this album. It is both dark and beautiful, heavy and melodic, and a nice collection of rock songs in a catalog of largely folk/americana/bluegrass tunes.
Apocalyptic Rating: 8 out of 10 (When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour)
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