David Gideon is billed as a roamer with a story to tell. Cock your ears towards his new album and that narrative will unveil in a soundtrack encapsulating all that is mystical about the open spaces of the road. LONESOME DESERT STRUM draws mainly on facets of country music with a western tilt and lets its soul drift in other ways such as shades of early sixties twangy pop. The album pitches its ware right at the heart of free thinking American music soaking up those captivated by the spirit of song. Gideon frames the art of letting the songs flow and you get the impression that they would flourish both in a big band lavish production as well as solo in a late night bar.
An unassuming cover relates to the simplicity of the album in terms of its relative subtle understatement. Its contents add up to the round dozen and several of these tracks have seeped out during a lengthy run in period. The structure catches your attention right from the off as exemplified by opener 'Southwestern Skies' shaping up as a stellar piece bubbling at a juncture where country meets the aforementioned early sixties twangy pop.
Gideon shows no sign of remaining sonically static. The escalating steel in the uptempo toe tapping roller 'Movin' to the Country' nestles alongside the sultry dark noir shades to 'My Birthday'. The lyrics enter a name checking sphere in the twangier fiddle led 'Ashes' where a touch of respectful morbidity reigns. It is also the word content that makes 'Nice to Meet You' and 'A Woman Like Her' worthwhile inclusions on an album oven ready for critical acclaim.
If the first half of the album has met your fancy, you're going to feast on the second. Things appear to get a little autobiographical in tracks like 'Lonesome Desert Strum' and 'Drifter'. The former possesses a cinematic appeal, while the latter was the recipient of a lucky dip here when tasked to choose one track to represent the album. 'Wings of an Angel' takes things down a notch or two while retaining the innate twang. 'Ballad of Crazy Horse' sees Gideon excel in third person writing mode.
Like all good albums, the finale sees no tail off with 'Red Boots' and 'Moonlit Lake' both matching the high standards of their predecessors. The first of this coupling cracks the country code, while the final number succinctly closes the book in grand style.
What David Gideon captures in LONESOME DESERT STRUM is an iconic sound alongside the soul of the drifting song. This sends an impressive body of work into the vaults clearly marked 'exemplar'. January releases tend to need some legs to rival the year's big hitters, but this has the staying power to match up, Especially when the country machine from the fringes cranks into gear with fiddle, steel and stellar songwriting ruling the roost.