One has to ask why in the name of heaven
Hal Ketchum
allowed
"Everytime I Look in Your Eyes"
to be the opening track on his first album in two years. Perhaps it was a concession to
Curb
, or he had a momentary lapse of reason. Whatever the reason, it's one of the most unlistenable, sugary sweet, slicker than schlock excuses for a song to be heard in close to a decade. It's the only track here
Ketchum
didn't write or co-write, and it wasn't picked as the first single (thank God), so what the hell? Luckily, the 14 other songs here are substantially better.
produced this album (all but that cursed track) and did a fine job. It's a lot more polished than his Austin material, but the songs themselves are inspired, the arrangements are spare enough to let the subtle emotion in his voice come through the grain in the music, and the performances themselves are solid. Standout tracks include
"As Long as You Love Me,"
a duet with the inimitably brilliant
Jonell Mosser
, and the title track, with its
Bo Diddley
shuffle done on acoustic guitars with a snarling electric in the background before it explodes into a pure
roots rock
extravaganza. The old
R&B
roots of
's New York past come through in
"On Her Own Time,"
a stunning vocal performance. The B-sharp in the background shimmering above the guitars is a particularly nice touch. The passion in
's voice, with
Mosser
in the background, cracks the track wide open and what spills out is a truth that both singer and listener can believe in.
The evidence here suggests -- as it does on his other recordings -- that
couldn't write a bad song if he tried. His work is fine; there are no extra words cluttering up his stories, no overblown phrases and rambling ellipses. The bluesy shuffle in
"Takin' My Time"
and the near funky
"The Way She Loves Me"
are nice twists that might have been better served if he employed Austin's
Archangels
to back him instead of his own band, but they're still fine cuts.
Guy Clark
makes an appropriate appearance on
"The Carpenter's Way"
; given his own penchant for tools and woodworking, it's a
waltz
full of dobro and fiddles and bouzouki. The hippest track here,
"Evangeline,"
a co-write with
Charlie Daniels
, has echoes of
Bob Dylan
's
"It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding),"
but digs deeper into the
blues
with backing vocals by
Tim O'Brien
. The fretless bassline and bodhran in
"Skies Over Dublin"
make a simple
country
song into a gorgeous
pop
tune, with its shape-shifting lines and atmospherics. It's as if
Daniel Lanois
were producing
Celine Dion
. In sum,
has given listeners a fine example of where he's at as a songwriter and proves himself as a producer, as this is a solid work -- other than the one offending moment (why didn't he place it last?).
The King of Love
is a fine outing, full of passion, verve, soul, and honesty. ~ Thom Jurek