I Am the Moon: III. The Fall
is the third in a projected series of four conceptually related, bi-monthly releases by
Tedeschi Trucks Band
in 2022. Each is accompanied by its own film from director
Alix Lambert
. It was informed by the epic, 12th century Persian love poem "The Story of Layla and Majnun" by Nizami Ganjavi, which also provided inspiration for the music on
Derek and the Dominos
' 1970 album
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
. Discovering complex themes and storylines in the poem,
I Am the Moon
was written collaboratively, with band members contributing their own unique perspectives on the work.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band
sets its gaze on love's bittersweet dimensions on this third installment. Opener "Somehow" by
Gabe Dixon
and
Tia Sellers
is a wrangling blues-rocker driven by
Trucks
' signature slide guitar. Hammond B-3, Rhodes piano, horns, drums, and a backing chorus surround
Susan Tedeschi
's aching vocal -- "How many times will you walk away?/How many times is the price I pay too high?/How many times can you make me beg?/Look that way and wreck my head..." -- as the rootsy, blues-jazz mix underscores the emotional grain in her voice. No matter the cost, she affirms a commitment to follow it and the beloved wherever they go: "What strikes a match in a stranger's eye so bright?/Makes us want and makes us seek/The flicker of somebody's heat?/How can what should be wrong on paper/Be written in the heart so right?" "None Above," written by
Tedeschi
Mike Mattison
, is a brief, souled-out choogler that weighs the tensions between obsessive commitment and the potential for destruction it poses, all inside a pop melody worthy of vintage AM radio. "Yes We Will" is funky, greasy, and drenched in gospel dynamics. It swaggers and sways as its lyrics detail the trials and tribulations emerging in this world and the one to come.
's and
' guitar breaks are mean, lean, argumentative, and edgy atop a soul shuffle on the drum kit, doo wop backing chorus, and
Dixon
's chugging keys. "Gravity" was composed by
Oliver Wood
. Saturated in funky, NOLA rhythm and blues, it owes a debt to
Dixie Chicken
-era
Little Feat
, with killer piano and lead vocals from
amid strutting horns and biting slide guitar.
Mattison
's "Emmaline" is a midtempo romantic ballad offered an absent lover under the night sky in country-waltz time.
Alecia Chakour
's stunning backing vocals add depth and resonance. Closer "Take Me As I Am" is a love anthem sung by
Mark Rivers
. Framed by sweet horns, a swaying backing chorus, and breakbeat drums, guitars, organ, and piano hover and float with painterly poignancy that send the set off on a celebratory note. While
The Fall
sticks closer to the blues, soul, and Americana roots aspects of
TTB
's sonic persona than did the earlier volumes, its searing honesty and inspired musical performances make this volume the finest in the series so far. ~ Thom Jurek