Britain's
Jake Bugg
sidesteps the electronic textures of 2016's
On My One
and settles comfortably into a vintage '60s and '70s AM pop vibe on his lyrical fourth studio album, 2017's
Hearts That Strain
. Having burst onto the scene in 2011 as a preternaturally gifted teen singer/guitarist with a knack for balancing
Bob Dylan
-style folk musings with a rootsy,
Lead Belly-esque
acoustic blues twang,
Bugg
has only matured in the years since. On albums prior to the aberrant, contemporary-leaning
,
always sounded like he was born into the wrong decade. For fans of vintage-inspired folk and blues, that was a good thing, and those same fans will probably find much to enjoy here. Recorded in Nashville with
the Black Keys
'
Dan Auerbach
producing,
is an organically crafted, immaculately arranged set of original songs that all sound like they easily could have been recorded at Olympic Studios in 1970. These are languid, poetic compositions, largely inspired by the melodic, Americana-informed pop of '60s songwriters like
Jimmy Webb
and
Lee Hazlewood
. Cuts like the breezy "How Soon the Dawn" and the rambling country piano tune "Southern Rain" showcase
's sweet, half-lidded croon. They sound like a charmingly preposterous and in all ways delightful amalgam of the '70s soft rock outfit
America
and the British Invasion melodicism of
Gerry & the Pacemakers
-- a happy accident of
's collaborative efforts with
Auerbach
. Whether this is the definitive sound
will stick with or just a product of him working through his influences, the results ring true.
certainly knows how to evince that old-school studio atmosphere, draping
in goosebumpy strings on the dramatic ballad "The Man on Stage" and conjuring his own brand of the
Phil Spector
Wall of Sound on the
Walker Brothers-esque
"Bigger Lover."
also highlight the Nashville milieu of the sessions, bringing on board
Noah Cyrus
(
Miley
's younger sister) for the grand country-soul duet "Waiting." What's great about
's backward-looking vibe is that, even though they nail the period aesthetic, the album never comes off as a slavish museum piece. It feels instead as if they somehow rediscovered this sound, like an old coat picked out of the attic that looks as perfect with a modern ensemble as it did in its own heyday. ~ Matt Collar