IAN NOE - River Fools & Mountain Saints

Already the author of an interesting debut, "Between The Country", Ian Noe continues to reinvigorate the tradition of Appalachian music, that cultural model which, filtering European and African influences, has for more than a century breathed vital life into American music.

The young Kentucky musician, on his second record, delivers a sonic fresco in vivid, natural and powerful colors. "River Fools & Mountain Saints" makes a strong case, without much hesitation or doubt, for one of the year's best country albums. The formula is not so different from what other talented outsiders have already worked out: a few precious notes, simple but never banal, a clear voice touched by sincere melancholy and unease, an intelligent and skillful use of strings, and some finishing touches of mandolin, pedal steel and keyboards.

With these few perfectly balanced elements, Ian Noe takes on the liveliness of rock'n'roll in "Pine Grove (Madhouse)", the roughness of the blues in the splendid "Running Down The Prairie" (a track that offers one of the album's most overwhelming guitar solos), and finally pulls out of his hat small rock-blues gems that recall the golden age of Creedence Clearwater Revival ("POW Blues").

The predominant impression is that of standing before an album out of time, not only for its echoes of musicians like John Prine or John Fogerty, but above all for the remarkable quality of its songwriting. Even while looking to the past ("Lonesome As It Gets"), Noe carefully avoids genre clichés and stereotypes, often brushing against the status of classics ("Ballad Of A Retired Man", "Appalachia Haze").

"River Fools & Mountain Saints" is a treasure chest brimming with precious gems. In "River Fool" the magic of the Byrds of "Sweetheart Of The Rodeo" comes back to life; the country ballad "Strip Job Blues 1984" gives mandolin and fiddle their rightful centrality; the poetic and effortless "Tom Barret" pays its due tribute to Bob Dylan, shortly before Noe steps into the present with a couple of songs that would be perfect for a joint project with Sturgill Simpson, though lacking any modernist aura ("Mountain Saint" and "One More Night").

What makes Ian Noe's new album even more captivating is the constant sense of being part of this grand musical story. It feels as though you are in the room with the musician when he sketches a chord or jots down a phrase before it slips from memory. A feeling that not even the closing track, with its strings ("Road May Flood/It's A Headache"), manages to soften, offering one more moment of pure poetry. "River Fools & Mountain Saints" is an album we won't soon forget.

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19/09/2022