Joe Henry
Civilians

In 2007, in the playlists of Anglo-Saxon music magazines, the American songwriter Joe Henry was one of the notable exclusions. Yet, like his previous work, "Tiny Voices" (2003), the first published with Anti after a long partnership with the Mammoth label, it was a truly successful work; certainly less experimental and open to influences than that one, more in the vein of the golden tradition of American singer-songwriters, but definitely poetic and characterized by a magnificent melancholy that was almost impossible to resist.

Joe, a very shy and reserved person (not even his marriage to a Ciccone sister has turned the spotlight on him) despite a career spanning more than twenty years, has also produced some well-known artists like Any Di Franco, Aimee Mann, and Elvis Costello, yet he is not considered a "great," one of the indispensable names in American popular music, even though he has, from my perspective, all the credentials. He is certainly not a pattern, a model, a pioneer like Tom Waits or Bob Dylan, but by drawing from "sacred monsters" like them, dipping into American roots, folk, country-blues, writing suggestive and poetic lyrics, he has carved out a significant space in the vast landscape of overseas singer-songwriter music. He has managed to create his own original style even while using musical "materials" as renowned as they are noble and with a voice that is not easily forgotten.

"Civilians" is an album deliberately, more than unfashionable, beyond trends, which easily earns the status of a small classic. There are no "winks," nor concessions to a market that is, moreover, directionless. Only stories told and set to music in a direct, essential, yet never subdued manner, that have the merit of involving you and projecting you into Joe's bittersweet world. Among the twelve tracks, it's truly difficult to choose, as they are all remarkable compositions. I would mention above all the title track, a track with a Waits-like setup, but without noisy and alcoholic excesses, however ("Oh, pray for you, pray for me. Sing it like a song - Life is short but, by the grace of God, This night is long..."); or even the bitter, political "Civil War"; not forgetting the plaintive, Dylan-esque, which wouldn't have been out of place on "Oh Mercy", "You Can't Fail Me Now", along with the moving, slowed-down ragtime-like "I Will Write A Book". Finally, what is perhaps the best of the batch, "Shut Me Up," another gem that wouldn’t look out of place in the repertoire of the best modern Zimmerman. A big hand in the realization of his slice-of-life pieces comes from top-level musicians like Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, Patrick Warren, and also, in a couple of tracks, the wise madman Van Dyke Parks on piano.

Ultimately, Joe Henry confirms himself as one of the best current songwriters, not only American. And if you don't see his albums mentioned in the annual charts of the trendiest music magazines, there's no need to worry. It’s a sign of the times. Surely many names present there today, in a few years (in a few months?) we will struggle to remember; Joe's "civil" virtues will remain, indeed.