Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (2009)

New Wax


On "Jim Cain," the opening track on Bill Callahan's new album Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, Callahan muses: "I used to be darker/ Then I got lighter/ Then I got darker again." It might be a reference to his uncommonly upbeat 2007 release Woke On A Whaleheart, which was a bit of a grab-bag of various styles. While Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle may be a slight return to the melancholy of his Smog records, Callahan's lyrics still maintain a veil of mystery and dry wit. The baritone crooner is at his best when backed by simple, sparse instrumentation, and Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle is filled with the kind of rhythmic piano and guitar arrangements that allow Callahan's heady words to reveal their true weight. Considering Callahan's recent split with folk songstress Joanna Newsom, it's tempting to read a song like "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" as an ode to a failed relationship, but it's never a good idea to take Callahan's lyrics at face value. Still, the idea seems to fit. On the track, Callahan sings in his patented half-speak delivery: "Love is the king of the beasts/ And when it gets hungry it must kill to eat." Callahan has always had a talent for turning an intriguing phrase, and Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle offers enough poetry and double-speak to keep any intellectual stimulated. As far as I'm concerned, anything Bill Callahan releases has artistic merit. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Bill Callahan - The Wind And The Dove
MP3: Bill Callahan - My Friend

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