16 Horsepower
Low Estate

THE REVIEW

The birth of 16 Horsepower is lost in the dust of recent American history, in their gravelly way of playing a folk with a southern and mystical flavor. Put together by that genius of David Eugene Edwards in the early '90s, they have produced four studio albums: these are to be considered true milestones of the most gothic and religiously felt folk ever conceived and composed.

Despite having charted the tracks of a folk/country with southern contours, lost in the folds of time, they never found all the notoriety they deserved. Proponents of a revival of America's typical music, in the works of 16 Horsepower one can easily hear the sound (revisited in an original and absolutely dense manner) of bluesy and folkloristic tradition from across the ocean.

This extraordinary ability to evoke is put into music by Edwards (leader and main composer of the group) also with the help of percussionist Jean Yves Tola, bassist Pascal Humbert, and guitarist Steve Taylor. This is the lineup of Low Estate, the second chapter of their discography, released by A&M Records in 1997. Defining this album within very precise terms is far too limiting, and those who know the band's style and Edwards in particular know what I mean. In Low Estate there is not only folk or folk rock; you don’t just hear country, but rather all of it amalgamated with the most disparate musical undercurrents: raise your hand if you don't feel flashes of a certain type of gothic or if you can't perceive among the muffled or abrasive sound of percussion and banjo a sort of "desert blues" with utterly original traits. All of this is well present in Low Estate, which serves as the guiding thread that will carry these same elements into the subsequent (and even more splendid) "Secret South."

The pounding "My Narrow Mind" clarifies the stylistic conception of 16 Horsepower, while "For Heaven's Sake" is marked as one of the most beautiful and controversial tracks of the band, an absolute gem of the album. Although the previously mentioned song represents, in my opinion, the highlight of the album, it is not the only one worthy of note. Apart from some pieces that feel anonymous ("Brimstone Rock" and "Phyllis Ruth" in particular), all other compositions stand at more than worthy levels: the acid-tinged ballad "The Denver Grab" is beautiful, as is "Black Lung" which resembles a popular ballad around the warm jaws of a fire.

Low Estate is thus an album of multiple facets, all well chiseled together to be "chewed" right away. A complex and difficult work to digest, but once this journey through the desertic guts of the United States is completed, it will have borne its fruits. A long journey of religious power...

1. "Brimstone Rock" (4:29)
2. "My Narrow Mind" (2:58)
3. "Low Estate" (4:10)
4. "For Heaven's Sake" (4:55)
5. "Sac Of Religion" (3:28)
6. "The Denver Grab" (5:03)
7. "Ditch Digger" (3:22)
8. "Pure Clob Road" (3:43)
9. "Phyllis Ruth" (4:36)
10. "Black Lung" (2:27)
11. "Dead Run" (3:20)
12. "Golden Rope" (4:15)
13. "Hang My Teeth On Your Door" (2:36)