(Mammoth)
Joe Henry is Madonna's brother-in-law. Yeah, that Madonna.
But you can't pick your in-laws and you shouldn't pick up his fifth full-length album, Trampoline, expecting to find even one dance number. What you get with Henry are songs built to last, songs that grow on you, songs you can develop a relationship with and learn to appreciate more when you've spent some time with them.
Henry is foremost a storyteller. He sets the mood with a deft use of acoustic, quiet electric and tremolo guitars. His opening lines have a near-journalistic ability to spill the entire tale and make you want more at the same time. His stories unfold in layers, the musical equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie. His beats lope along, as if he has most of the day to tell you the nine stories that appear here and you have some time on your hands to listen.
The title track, about a man clinging to a failed relationship, is one example. Over an almost "Crimson and Clover" guitar line, Henry sings "the floor will have its way it seems. It fights me like a trampoline. It won't let me on the ground. So this time I'm not coming down." Three verses later you find out the protagonist knows he's living a lie, but he clings to it because he thinks it's the only thing keeping him from giving up.
The entire album is filled with lines so good they almost make you want to stop the music, just so you can think about them. But gems like these shine in every verse, so you just let the music play and listen to the story. And learn to appreciate each one each time you hear it.
Henry's previous albums have come with notable contributions from the Jayhawks, Don Cherry and T Bone Burnett. This outing finds him enlisting the help of producer Patrick McCarthy, who has done work for R.E.M. and Counting Crows, and Helmet guitarist Page Hamilton. The guest spots are a fitting tribute to a first-rate songwriter.
So kick off those dancing shoes and get on Henry's Trampoline. Like the person in the title track, you, too, may not want to come down.
