(Reprise)
The booklet accompanying Chris Isaak's latest release reveals much about the album as a whole. There's lots of pretty snapshots of Isaak and the members of his band, Silvertone, hanging out and relaxing in sun-soaked Baja - pictures of leisurely drives, grass huts, fun with the band. Isaak set out to make an album that was "the perfect setting for romance," yet the singer himself is pictured alone, except when he is pictured with his bandmates, his surfboard, or his guitar. But he doesn't look melancholy and lonely. On the contrary, he looks relaxed, occassionally lost in thought, his blue eyes drifting over the endless warm waters. This is a vacation scrapbook providing visual cues to the sonic landscape of Baja Sessions, an album which captures Isaak's plaintive warblings about heartbreak and loneliness but with less rock 'n roll edginess and more easygoing melodies. The focus shifts from the immediate pain and emotion in the songs to the loveliness of the music itself.
The album contains reworked versions of songs from previous releases as well as covers, including Roy Orbison's "Only the Lonely" and Gene Autry's "South Of The Border." Three new tracks are also included. As opposed to a live album, this collection of tracks is described as "one-take songs...recorded live in the studio."
The result is, at its worst, something like Chris Isaak Lite. But the album is mainly Isaak at his best, as it captures some of the darkly romantic intimacy of Isaak's live shows. The songs embody a certain warm, lilting quality that soothes the listener with its languid strumming and deep vocals. Songs like "Pretty Girls Don't Cry" and "Two Hearts" carry less of the heavy-hearted bite of the originals and veer toward sounding too pleasantly dismissive. But they reveal some different sides to the Isaak repetoire, most notably in Hershel Yatovitz's eloquently subtle lead guitar and Isaak's flawless vocals, complemented by Kenney Dale Johnson's percussion and backing vocals and the smooth rhythms of bassist Rowland Salley. Less-produced versions of songs like "Dancin'" give a completely different feel to the originals - it's more introspective and just as moody, but there's a deeper groove to it, bringing the listener into the same room with Isaak. Baja Sessions has romantic, stripped-down songs that fit the uniquely Chris Isaak mold.
