Taking its name from that phenomenon where the sun is shining during a storm, A Jackal's Wedding by Westerman is one of this week's most enveloping records. A full, rich sound captivates, and Will Westerman here serves up the sort of music that demands your full attention. It's also the kind of thing that seems wildly at odds with contemporary popular indie. And that's one more reason why I love this.
A song like "About Leaving" finds Westerman's vocals deep in the mix, with the minimalist piano and swirls of noise behind it doing the lifting of the song. There's more than a hint or two of Tindersticks in some of this stuff. The looser "Mosquito" brings a looser vibe to the music here, with Westerman's vocals taking an approach that suggests a few nights spent with Nick Drake records, or select sides from Arthur Russell. Elsewhere, Spring" aches in the same way that the best Elliott Smith songs did, despite not sounding very much like Smith at all. Westerman lets these numbers just exist, and his rich baritone does most of the work of making the material resonate on emotional levels.
Producer Marta Salogni deserves some praise too for giving A Jackal's Wedding a full sound. To these ears there's a clear Tindersticks influence or two at work here, though Westerman's material retains more austerity in presentation at times. The songs on this record are uncluttered, direct, and wonderfully emotional in a sense. This is heartfelt music in the way that "Easter Parade" by The Blue Nile is a heartfelt song. Highly recommended.
A Jackal's Wedding by Westerman is out on Friday via Partisan Records.
[Photo: C. Eric Scaggiante]