Rock/Pop - "It’s more emotionally available, certainly less mannered,” says acclaimed producer and songwriter Joe Henry, on the stylistic shift in his new August 18 album Blood From Stars (ANTI-). “It’s much more electric, in the literal and also the emotional sense of the word. It is raw, with many loose threads hanging.”

After ten extraordinary solo albums and award-winning production (Elvis Costello, Solomon Burke, Allen Toussaint), Henry has followed up his fine 2007 release Civilians with a new work that has a raw, nakedly spontaneous feel to it's bluesy bloodletting -- the result of letting his extraordinary supporting players (led by guitarist Marc Ribot and pianist Jason Moran) take an active part in shaping the songs' sound and mood at the beginning of the recording process.

“Partly, I just loved what happened when this particular group of musicians heard a song and had to respond to it in a very immediate way,” says Henry. “I can always go back to what I thought [the song should sound like], but if you limit them to your own imagination, then you’re just cutting yourself off from the richest resource you have." The result is yet another collection of brilliant Henry songs but this time there's also a more freewheeling, innate vitality coursing through the core of the album, turning songs such as "The Man I Keep Hid" and "Bellweather" into stark, vivid soundscapes. Recommended.

Artist Site Anti- Records Site