The American novelist James Baldwin once stated, “the primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid: the state of being alone." I imagine the three men of Amalgamated Sons of Rest understand this statement well enough. Whether it's Will Oldham and his various incarnations (Palace, Bonnie "Prince" Billy); Jason Molina and his now-retired Songs: Ohia alias; or the lesser-known, but similarly-minded Scottish songwriter Alasdair Roberts (otherwise known as Appendix Out); they've each got a long history of creating music, more or less, by themselves.
So what happens when three relatively solitary men get together? Do they collaborate in equal parts, or do they work in tandem, one or two being pulled by another? Judging by the output of this brief seven-song EP, it’s the latter. Each song has a main man in front of two supporting roles who provide instrumentation and occasional harmony. The tracks, both original tunes and new takes on traditional songs, sound exactly as you'd expect: moody, maybe a little dusty, and inhabited by ghosts of the sea and the Civil War. Instead of three exemplary songwriters pushing each other to create something revelatory, we find a safe and expected batch of tunes that don’t stray too far, if at all, from their comfort zones.
In fact, it’s not until the album’s last three songs -- Oldham’s "Major March," the Molina-led "Jennie’s Blackbird Blues," and the hidden track, "I Will Be Good" -- that the trio gets beyond the surface. Oldham’s tale of a long-departed soldier and Molina’s sparse, piano-led blues pull the listener into hauntingly dark territory. And then, in a pleasantly surprising twist of sequencing, the hidden track reveals itself as a calm, dare I say, upbeat bit of harmonic aphorism. It's simple, refreshing, and ultimately quite lovely, with all three voices sharing the spotlight. It's also the only point where the collaboration of these incredibly talented men reaches its potential.
But if we have to wait until a hidden track for a payoff, why collaborate at all? If the results remain overwhelmingly predictable, what’s the point? After all, this isn’t the first musical supergroup to falter. Maybe it’s just the desire to create with friends, respected colleagues, hell, anyone other than the standard session musicians -- to reach outside of yourself for a few songs and see what happens. But if that’s the case for Amalgamated Sons of Rest, the product is more or less a friendly jam-session demo. Whether that’s something that needs to be heard by anyone outside of a close circle of friends is arguable. Perhaps it would have been more satisfying to be left wondering what the wunderkinds could do, instead of being relatively disappointed by the results.
1. "Maa Bonny Lad"
2. "My Donal"
3. "The Gypsy He-Witch"
4. "The Last House"
5. "Major March"
6. "Jennie Blackbird’s Blues"
7. "I Will Be Good"
