Shiva Burlesque
Mercury Blues

And here is another sophomore work that many have mistakenly, in my opinion, labeled as inferior to the debut. The immediate beauty at first glance is supported, after several listens, by the intimate interface that then never lets you go.

All the tracks engage and narrate various levels of perception in a direct manner, starting with acoustic guitars, trumpets, strings, which create a deep yet dynamic atmosphere. We are in thoughts that sublimate the memory of our oceanic voyage by ship, thus launched into the dust of the journey on a stagecoach that takes us who knows where. The detachment is sweet.

Jeffrey Clarke's voice (music and lyrics mostly by him) evokes Doors-like memories but the originality and imprint are all his own. And we understand the beautiful foundation Grant Lee Phillips has built, then Buffalo, or rather I would dare to say that with these two works with Shiva, he started with a bang, consequential then his solo works with such an intense active apprenticeship with Clarke.

And while the first album dazzled us with dreamlike psychedelic ballads that were fundamentally stateless, here you enjoy a sound that veers toward western transcendence, showing us the other side of the frontier, the fabled one, bejeweled with the magic of the endless American horizons admired in a rush, being busy building survival.

Poker games played in the desert amidst saloon mirages, the cactus juice is reconciling from the pioneering fatigue. It's all there before us, crystalline, and at night all the stars can be seen. In the memory of the pain felt, we smile happily. PEACE!