And
so, he continues to grow. Album number five, 'Slingshot Professionals'
is a very wonderful thing. Richly acoustic tunes of poetic haunt
and verse. Guitars, harmonica, piano, accordion, violin, mandolin
and more. Luxuriant textures and variant hues, elegantly woven
and softly spun. And that husky voice -- well worn, emoting good
and getting better all the time. If at times he recalls 'Bop Until
You Drop' -- era Ry Cooder – cut through with a shot of Beat
and belt of Waits - still he is very much his own man. Indeed,
he is memorably possessed of his own fully formed, richly realised,
yet still developing sound. As a guitar player Phelps typically
eschews the showy in lieu of the subtle, and is all the more affecting
for it. Increasingly, too, his words have taken on a rare, imagistic
thrall all their own. On the new album, such crooked mystery, eloquently
wrought, with snapshots and vignettes of ache and wonder and enigma
hewn, he is a shadowy master of gnawing, crafted song.
And
so, he continues to grow. Album number five, 'Slingshot Professionals'
is a very wonderful thing. Richly acoustic tunes of poetic haunt
and verse. Guitars, harmonica, piano, accordion, violin, mandolin
and more. Luxuriant textures and variant hues, elegantly woven
and softly spun. And that husky voice -- well worn, emoting good
and getting better all the time. If at times he recalls 'Bop Until
You Drop' -- era Ry Cooder – cut through with a shot of Beat
and belt of Waits - still he is very much his own man. Indeed,
he is memorably possessed of his own fully formed, richly realised,
yet still developing sound. As a guitar player Phelps typically
eschews the showy in lieu of the subtle, and is all the more affecting
for it. Increasingly, too, his words have taken on a rare, imagistic
thrall all their own. On the new album, such crooked mystery, eloquently
wrought, with snapshots and vignettes of ache and wonder and enigma
hewn, he is a shadowy master of gnawing, crafted song.