Steve Gunn – Other You
Matador – 2021
Steve Gunn landed upon the title for his sixth studio album whilst struggling to find a musical note and having his producer Rob Schnapf feed his voice through a computer to discover it by essentially singing along to himself. If this process sounds alarmingly hi-tech and synthetic, then fear not because Other You is Gunn’s most elegant sounding solo record yet, with the sympathetic arrangements moving alongside each other fluidly throughout. Indeed, even the album cover, picturing Gunn framed in greens and blues, is a far cry from 2019’s monochrome cover, featuring the guitarist in shades, crouched over his instrument case. On the cover of Other You, the acoustic guitar shares the space with Gunn, but its role on the album is probably more subtle than ever, with Gunn and Schnapf happy to allow the band to work together to form an organic soundscape.
Steve will always be considered a far-reaching and technically adept guitar player. Still, he seems to reserve his chops for the Gunn-Truscinski duo these days and focuses increasingly on the song for his solo work. This is clear from the off on Other You, with the title track allowing a brief acoustic strum to introduce it, before soft swirls of electric guitar drift in along with gentle piano and a lovely bass line (Justin Tripp’s playing throughout the whole album is an important flavour and enriches each track). It becomes quickly clear that Gunn’s voice is at the fore though, probably more than it has been before, softly tinged and as light as air as he takes us on an outside journey, looking at the ‘edge of open sky’, considering the salvation of the precious materials of the Earth. This sense of the natural organic world permeates the set and works beautifully with the understated and considered arrangements. On Morning River, he sings of a river that is ‘more alive than the brightest light’ to an easy piano and percussion frame; on Good Wind, our narrator reassures with life-affirming messages (‘you’re born again / you know you can be found’), while guitars ramble and the delicate production shimmers like the sun through a curtain.
It’s easy to take this production for granted because it demands very little from the listener, but plenty is going on in the background, all skillfully crafted with the softest touch. The title track all but conceals a guitar solo in reverse, sounding like the weird ghost of a tune a few rooms away. Sole instrumental song Sugar Kiss has more of this otherworldly quality, with co-writer Mary Lattimore‘s harp notes trickling through the piece and Steve’s twelve-string, sitting far back, sounding like rhythmic wing beats slowed down. All of this music is painstakingly built and balanced with skill and focus that is very satisfying. Take the latter part of The Painter as another example; the relaxed, day-dreamy acoustic guitar solo could be a back porch noodle, but it works very well on a breezy song that encapsulates the composed but carefree energy of this beautifully crafted and performed set.
Other You is out now on Matador Records.
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Photo Credit: Stephanie Nicole Smith