Bergamo-based guitarist Buck Curran’s new album, Far Driven Sun, sees him strip back his sound to celebrate his reunion with a 1990 Stefan Sobell ‘Butterfly’ acoustic guitar, the same instrument used on his duo Arborea’s first two albums (Wayfaring Summer in 2006 and Arborea in 2008). Buck is also an experienced guitar luthier, working for Dana Bourgeois for many years and making his own instruments afterwards (Jack Rose had commissioned a Curran guitar just before he died), so his ear for tone is finely tuned, hence his fixation with Sobell instruments.
This particular guitar was made for Buck and completed in 2009, but circumstances led him to sell the instrument, and he only tracked it down again in 2021, eventually re-purchasing it from a boutique instrument shop in Japan. Such is Buck’s gratitude to the world for this reconciliation that he felt inspired to craft a new instrumental album centred around the guitar’s sound (which is pretty incredible, it seems), and here it is.
An expansive, full-band sound, a la No Love is Sorrow, would have been an odd choice, so thankfully Buck has kept the components minimal, using layered guitar with occasional EBow and slide enhancements, and featuring guest musicians on two tracks. One of these is Iliad (Slight Return), a fleshed-out version of an earlier song, featuring Francesco Di Lenge on drums and Nataly Kozlova on bass. The earlier Iliad is a calmer affair, with Buck’s guitar played slowly to relish each note and a second part harmonising and creating an elegiac sound that neatly contrasts the rockier edge of Slight Return.
Sharing this pensive approach are two Vignettes, each just a couple of minutes long and played with restraint and space, as well as lower notes, giving the music a darker edge. Buck’s miking is spot on, too, with fret sound creeping in once or twice, giving the music an intimate character. This is also to be found on the slide pieces, like the gorgeous Solstice (a direct relative to two pieces Buck recorded on Robbie Basho’s twelve-string for the tribute album Solstice for Steffen Basho-Junghans). The playing here is slow and deliberate, with the slide buzzing softly against the strings, the guitar picking up everything and adding nuance to its sound.
Towards the end of the album are two of my highlights. Bells uses the EBow and slide to evoke its namesake, but the embellishments are minimal, and the improvised core of the song gives the music a quietly unpredictable dynamism. It is a lesson in minimalism, played with clarity and subtle prowess. May 10th, 5:15 is in a similar vein, with the music developing easily and patiently and a sense of looseness that also feels improvised. Here, the guitar is unadorned, lending the sound an extra level of clarity and purity, with soft string scrapes and each note played with a purpose that gives this two-minute number added weight.
Another miniature that deserves mention is the opening title track, which employs a lightly picked refrain and incorporates minimal slices of slide and harmonics to create something magical. This subtle piece nicely introduces Unicorn Song, the most buoyant of the tracks here, with a lovely chord progression framing bright pieces of guitar, slide and plump bass notes that lurk in the background. It’s a delightful song, quite poppy in nature and unashamedly optimistic (it’s hardly surprising that it’s Buck’s daughter’s favourite of his).
This album is a real passion project and very effectively illustrates Buck’s enthusiasm, or even obsession, with the character of the acoustic guitar. But more than that, it is a deeply musical and layered set that demonstrates both Buck’s ability as a player and his touch in a recording studio. Just listen to the different sounds swirling around on Deserto Parallax, all made from the guitar and all adding to the song’s gravitas. This is a highly accomplished piece of work, made with love and performed with the utmost skill and intricate musicianship.
Far Driven Sun (August 29th, 2025) Obsolete Recordings / ESP-Disk / Echodelick Records
Order Far Driven Sun:
Digital: https://obsoleterecordings.bandcamp.com/album/far-driven-sun
CD: https://espbuckcurran.bandcamp.com/album/far-driven-sun
Vinyl: https://echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com/