Paul Nelson - Over Under Through 2019 (flac 16b 44kHz) Blues Rock torrent

?Paul Nelson - Over Under Through 2019 (flac 16b 44kHz)


TITRES

 1. Paul Nelson - Go Down Ezekiel                           [06:13]

   2. Paul Nelson - Ghost in the Basement                     [05:00]

   3. Paul Nelson - Color It Blue                             [04:13]

   4. Paul Nelson - Secret                                    [05:29]

   5. Paul Nelson - Lay a Little                              [04:33]

   6. Paul Nelson - Alice Mullin                              [04:34]

   7. Paul Nelson - I Walk the Line                           [04:21]

   8. Paul Nelson - Relative Work                             [03:59]

   9. Paul Nelson - Silent Majority                           [05:44]

  10. Paul Nelson - Over Under Through                        [07:20]

  11. Paul Nelson - There Is Weeping                          [05:03]

Playing Time.........: 56:34

Inconnu de par chez nous
?was really attracted to the album, first of all, because it’s really nicely packaged. It’s good quality, robust, it’s got a lovely cover, all the information’s there, and you’ve got a booklet with the lyrics. That was a great start but then when I started to play it, Paul Nelson’s performance, the songs, the arrangements and the musicianship all drew me in and had me listening a second time as soon as the album was finished.

I got talking to Paul, who told me that he wanted “the sparseness of a Greg Brown – just a nice gravelly voice and lots of space,” and “the cool sophistication of a Robbie Robertson record.” Robertson is a particular hero of Nelson’s – of Somewhere Down the Crazy River, he said, “If it was on it on vinyl, I would have worn through it. I love that song.”

And for sure you can hear echoes of Robbie Robertson, especially on the title track, Over Under Through, an enigmatic song about the search for salvation, on which Nelson raspily whispers the lyrics.

The album kicks off with the swampy Go Down Ezekiel, shimmering with southern heat and soaked with bluesy intent. Immediately we get introduced to the guitar skills of Kevin Barry, who has toured and recorded with Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ray Lamontagne, Marc Cohn and others. The slightly sinister slide guitar on this track is utterly beguiling and suits the rather unusual subject matter well.

The song is based on the prophet of ancient Israel, Ezekiel, who is instructed to go wading in the great river of God, and gradually keeps moving out until the water is up to his neck. But for Nelson, his “story really isn’t, you know, biblically accurate. But I remember this story of somebody, an angel telling someone to get a measuring stick and measure out something, the temple or whatever. And then I remember other stories about bringing somebody down to the river. So, he goes down to the river, and an angel is gonna be his guide. And then I have him slowly going out deeper and deeper. Until the point where, basically, he’s saying, listen, it’s only when you dive in and take a risk that anything is really going to happen in your life. And I didn’t plan that. I just knew he was getting deeper and deeper, and sooner or later he’s gonna be over his head and then what?”  With this in mind the song sounds a bit like it’s Paul Nelson’s own musical history in view here.

But as you listen through the album, you can hear all sorts of echoes and references to biblical passages and imagery, usually quite subtly done. Nelson said, “Yeah. I just find that the whole biblical thing is just very fascinating, aside from my own faith or belief.” He went on to talk about the song Secret, which he said, “is me struggling with the idea of being transformed or changed and feeling like a hypocrite.”