This week’s New Music Report pick is Jakob Dylan’s Women & Country, the second solo record from the Wallflowers frontman. Dylan’s last album, Seeing Things, was a somewhat underwhelming collection of spare ballads featuring nothing more than guitar and his voice. But he’s ratcheted up his ambitions for his new effort by teaming up with T Bone Burnett, the producer who worked on the Wallflowers’ 1996 breakthrough Bringing Down the Horse. On Women & Country, Dylan and Burnett explore cool atmospheric touches that give the record a haunting vibe: “Yonder Come the Blues” features reverb-soaked slide guitars while “Lend a Hand” boasts New Orleans horns and rollicking percussion that calls to mind Tom Waits. Overall, Women & Country is a great laid-back country-roots record and it’s made even more memorable thanks to the vocal contributions from singers Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. On tracks like the standout “Nothing But the Whole Wide World,” their bright harmonies offer a nice contrast to Dylan’s sandpapery rasp.
Check out an acoustic Jakob Dylan set, live at Rolling Stone.
...Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily