Mark Kozelek’s voice is unmistakable, and while his original compositions have often taken a backseat to his wildly unique reimaginings of songs by the likes of AC/DC and Modest Mouse, it is his autobiographical and often intensely personal original songwriting that best accentuates his haunting and cathartic croon. April is the first record of original material since 2003’s Ghosts of the Great Highway and finds Kozelek and his Sun Kil Moon bandmates wrapping his intimate lyrics around both delicate acoustic ballads and three-guitar rock jams.
“Unlit Hallway” features a tinkering banjo over dreamy acoustic fingerpicking and eerie backing vocals from Will Oldham. “Tonight the Sky” tears a page from the Crazy Horse playbook, with eleven minutes of guitar rock that’s heavy on the fuzz. With this careful mix of shorter ballads and extended rockers, “April” is more dynamic than its predecessors and a testament the band’s songwriting prowess with Kozelek behind the wheel.
Would’ve been in the May edition of Harp
