I’ve been lusting after Dull Knife for awhile; finally the seal has been broken, and this one’s a damn doozy, delivered by a much-appreciated old hand. Zachary Cale is one of the only alt-country/Americana artists I bother to follow, and he hasn’t let me down yet. Don’t even get me started on that Illuminations LP; the guy has done his homework. “Love Everlasting,” as Dennis Green might say, is what I thought it was, namely a tight, straight-ahead country song that sheds all un-pleasantries associated with the genre. “Love” sounds like it could have been recorded during Lennon’s lost weekend, but that’s almost giving it short shrift. This is a powerful, slow shuffle toward the sun as death stalks from the shade, constructed of layered acoustic guitar, distant electric-guitar flourishes and backup vocals, bass that propels the ship forward, and drums simpler than a game of tic-tac-toe. Cale has done it before, and he’s doing it again; don’t let the sun go down on this heavy-ass 7-inch before you get a copy.
More about: Zachary Cale
