DAMIEN JURADO - Passing The Giraffes

2023 (Maraqopa)
alt-folk, songwriter

Nato dalle stesse session di “Motorcycle Madness”, il terzo album pubblicato da Damien Jurado, “Passing The Giraffes”, è un curioso compendio all’eccentricità di uno degli album più interessanti del musicista americano.

Le dieci tracce sono sempre in bilico tra languori romanticamente retrò (il leggiadro valzer di “I Cannot Want Such A Thing”) e malinconiche ballate, graziate da un delicato controcanto femminile (“Get Ready To Come With Us”, “Christine Francis” e la sfuggente e l’impalpabile title track).

Il carattere approssimativo delle ultime prove di Jurado è ulteriormente suggellato dalla voce dell’autore, che resta spesso dietro le quinte, come nella già citata title track e nella soave “Look At Us, We’re Walking”, o nell’elaborazione noise-psych di “Hello, I’m Leaving”.

Nella prevedibile frammentarietà di “Passing The Giraffes” è facile intercettare deliziosi brani pop in stile sixties (“The Shame Of Two Cities”), fantasiose e vaporose arie dream-folk (“Vera Louise Gorman”), brevi interludi (“Theresa”) e ballate che nella loro architettura simil-acustica accostano con sapienza chitarra e piano (“Look At Us, We’re Walking”, “A Song For Catherine Kerkow”).

Tre album nell’arco di un solo anno sono una bella sfida per il cantautore di Seattle. La buona notizia è che anche l’episodio meno rilevante ha tutte le caratteristiche per non essere accantonato come puro esercizio di stile.

Non resta che attendere le prossime mosse di Damien Jurado.

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27/11/2023

This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Gianfranco Marmoro, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition

Tracklist

  1. 1. Hello, I’m Leaving
  2. 2. A Song For Catherine Kerkow
  3. 3. I Cannot Want Such A Thing
  4. 4. Get Ready To Come With Us
  5. 5. The Shame Of Two Cities
  6. 6. Christine Francis
  7. 7. Passing The Giraffes
  8. 8. Vera Louise Gorman
  9. 9. Theresa
  10. 10. Look at Us, We’re Walking

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