After a long absence from recording new material, Cohn, the winner of a Best New Artist Grammy in 1991 for “Walking in Memphis,” is back with a set of well-crafted, compassionate songs testifying to moments of loss, resilience, and gratitude.
Videos by American Songwriter
Label: DECCA
[Rating: 3]
After a long absence from recording new material, Cohn, the winner of a Best New Artist Grammy in 1991 for “Walking in Memphis,” is back with a set of well-crafted, compassionate songs testifying to moments of loss, resilience, and gratitude. The untimely coincidence of Hurricane Katrina and a near-death experience, while being carjacked in 2005, shapes a broad palette of thoughtful testimonies, to the ongoing pulse of life after mostly ordinary and sometimes uncanny forces, have conspired to quell it. Charlie Sexton’s tactful co-production surrounds Cohn’s earnest voice with soft layers of instrumental textures. The songs have earned their stripes from inception to production, but Cohn doesn’t always walk the fine line between paying tribute to and simply ventriloquizing the American roots traditions he invokes. Gospel-tinged organ and choir touches work well, as does lifting the “A” part of “The Weight” for “Listening to Levon [Helm],” trying to take on Al Green’s mannerisms doesn’t.
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