ComfortComes

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cardinology

To call the output of Ryan Adams over the last decade prolific is a bit of an understatement. How many other artists have put out ten albums since 2000? Not many that I can think of, some don’t even make it to three before the greatest hits album comes along for a quick cash-in on fading popularity.

Cardinology is his fifth with the Cardinals and it stays firmly in the alt-country genre that multi-instrumentalist Adams has become synonymous with. Personally I’m undecided on whether alt-country as a label is a good thing or not. It seems like a suspicious attempt to label and re-brand country music for a new generation, like post-punk or nu-folk. What’s happened to simple genres that aren’t hyphenated? Or even better, lets bring back some 1960s genres that feature an ‘n’ in the middle like rhythm n blues or rock n roll. But I digress…

In places Cardinology is so relaxed and slowed down that it could be used in place of calming whale music by psychologists or hippies. Except that the whale is wearing a Stetson and in the background of the bar he’s playing in is a faded flag of the confederacy, pinned to the wall.

A major strength of this album is the precedence it gives to Adams’ voice. Whoever did the mixing on the vocals for Cardinology got it spot on, because his voice rises and falls, clear as crystal among the Cardinals accomplished backing.

One detraction from the album though, is the lack of variation on the warm, mellow guitar led tracks. You can’t help but feel that with 12 songs to play with there is room for a couple of songs that could be called a curveball if they fail to impress or hailed as wilful and successful experimentation if they went down well. However, as it is, the album lacks bite, it is soft and doughy, which works sometimes but also leaves you wanting something to really get your teeth into.

By Mark Williams