Having played a down-and-out country singer on utterly excellent movie 'Crazy heart', and performing six of the tracks on that movies soundtrack, it seemed like the logical next step for Jeff Bridges, Hollywood A-lister and utter legend to turn his hand to releasing a bona fide Country album all of his own.
However, it doesn’t all work out quite how we wanted as this album seems to yo-yo between excellent and terrible with worrying frequency.
Opener 'What a Little Bit of Love Can Do' is very, very Achy Breaky Heart and you can decide for yourselves whether that’s a good thing or not. For me, on a personal level, it’s not quite the barnstorming opener I was hoping for, but nevertheless, piqued by curiosity, I had to travel on through what came next, which was 'Falling Short', a song that is actually brilliant. It’s delicate and punchy in equal measure. Little snippets of loose snare, a dark undertone of strings, some very inventive use of other percussion and a clever little acoustic guitar make this a true stand-out, unlike the entirely boring and country-by-numbers 'Everything but Love', a lament on what would have happened if Jeff himself had everything in the world (or at least the money to pay for it) but no sweetheart to woo. I guess it should have been expected for this song to exist, but it was painful to listen to, especially since he’s been married for 34 years. He definitely has everything and love, and more power to him for it, but it’s not a true basis for this song to exist. And thus, with no inspiration or experience to draw from, the song became just boring.
'Tumbling Vines' is a moody, dark piece with the kind of rhythm that would send a conductor in an orchestral pit into spasms from time to time. It’s deep and clever with a lot of clever wordplay, use of double-bass and little twinkles of guitar, keys and percussion layered neatly throughout. I’m already at the point where I wish this was just an EP because take out the chaff, and you’ve got a short series of excellent tracks here. At this point, I’d like to point out Bridges voice itself. It’s deep and filled with character, a character who can deliver scorn, love and yearning. It can be vulnerable, playful and dark in equal measure, and while some of the projection on the more powerful tracks could have been stronger, he’s got a great voice that is suited to exactly this type of album. In fact the softer aspect of his voice shines through in 'Nothing Yet' which is actually quite dull, but his voice saves the song from being truly turgid.
Next up, 'Blue Car' probably should have been on Hugh Lauries album instead. It’s actually quite a lot of fun, even if it’s lyrical dog mess. The stabby piano chords and upbeat 4/4 time actually make this track restore interest in the album from the boredom that was the three minutes that preceded it. I am a little worried at this point though that, as a result, and to follow the pattern, the next track will be terrible, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually pretty good too. Jeff Bridges bucks the trend, and not for the first time in his career either. 'Maybe I Missed the Point' is a pretty good slice of Americana. It’s nothing really new, but there’s an innocence about it that allows it to really come through well. It’s just generally pleasant to listen to, although 'Slow Boat' does return to the slow, boring humdrum that has befallen this record on far too regular occasion. It’s not as bad as 'Nothing Yet' or 'Everything but Love' as its led into a truly dark place well by a strong bass drum, but there’s just no real substance to either the lyrical delivery or the rest of the instruments which just seem to be doing whatever they hell they please. In fact 'Either Way' is the track that 'Slow Boat' is trying so hard to be. Separated at birth, it’s pretty easy to tell which one is the runt of the litter.
So we finish with 'The Quest', a country waltz that, much like most the rest of the album, doesn’t offer up anything particularly new or ground-breaking, but it’s an ok way to round up the album and then sign off. If Bridges was an upcoming touring artist rather than world-famous movie star, various parts of this could easily be sung around an intimate campfire with an enthralled crowd, but alas, that will never happen.
It’s difficult to write bad things about a project that a person like Jeff Bridges has done, seeing as he’s won BAFTAs, Golden Globes and an Oscar. He’s been involved in such classic movies as The Big Lebowski, Crazy heart, True Grit and two TRON films, but lots of this album just didn’t click. A lot of it is just the same old MOR country that bores most to tears. While the good bits are generally very good, they are slightly outweighed by the bad.
The Dude no longer abides.
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Next up, 'Blue Car' probably should have been on Hugh Lauries album instead. It’s actually quite a lot of fun, even if it’s lyrical dog mess. The stabby piano chords and upbeat 4/4 time actually make this track restore interest in the album from the boredom that was the three minutes that preceded it. I am a little worried at this point though that, as a result, and to follow the pattern, the next track will be terrible, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was actually pretty good too. Jeff Bridges bucks the trend, and not for the first time in his career either. 'Maybe I Missed the Point' is a pretty good slice of Americana. It’s nothing really new, but there’s an innocence about it that allows it to really come through well. It’s just generally pleasant to listen to, although 'Slow Boat' does return to the slow, boring humdrum that has befallen this record on far too regular occasion. It’s not as bad as 'Nothing Yet' or 'Everything but Love' as its led into a truly dark place well by a strong bass drum, but there’s just no real substance to either the lyrical delivery or the rest of the instruments which just seem to be doing whatever they hell they please. In fact 'Either Way' is the track that 'Slow Boat' is trying so hard to be. Separated at birth, it’s pretty easy to tell which one is the runt of the litter.
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