Mark Olson & Gary Louris
Ready For The Flood

THE REVIEW

This album, released at the end of 2008, is an unexpected surprise. Mark Olson and Gary Louris, the duo who made the Jayhawks great for a brief period in the early nineties with works like the excellent "Hollywood Town Hall" and the superb "Tomorrow The Green Grass," decided to put aside their misunderstandings and bitter quarrels that had strained their personal relations for years to reunite and compose, and play together like they used to.

News welcomed positively by all fans of these two talented musicians who, a few years ago, gave us songs like "Two Angels", "Clouds", "Wichita", "Blue" and "I'd Run Away". In "Ready For The Flood" everything goes smoothly with no trace of hurricanes between the two. The extraordinary poetic vein of Mark Olson, a person both kind and very approachable with whom I had the pleasure of exchanging a few words a few years ago, is the true strength of a relaxed work with a predominantly acoustic fabric. The successful and not at all intrusive production by the great Chris Robinson, voice of the Black Crowes for those who don't know, gives the album a colloquial and informal atmosphere where acoustic guitars dictate the pace and take the lead.

The music is very pleasant, fresh, well-constructed, and the vocal harmonies always work wonderfully. Already on the first listen, the duo's influences are evident. They are always the right ones, those of California in the late sixties and early seventies between Neil Young, David Crosby, Gram Parsons, and the Band. Olson and Louris understand each other like in the good old days when they sang "Waiting For The Sun" and the pieces all gain in quality. The opening "The Rose Society" offers the coordinates of the entire work, and the following "Bicycle" is already a great piece like "Kick The Wood". Nevertheless, it's pointless to cite the individual tracks since the album is sweetly uniform and enjoyable like a good slice of cake. A special mention goes to the poetic, meditative, and moving "My Gospel Song For You", one of the successful songs from this inspired and unexpected return of two old friends reunited.

"Ready For The Flood" is a beautiful and profound album, full of evocative tracks that bring to light two of the best protagonists of American singer-songwriter music.