Tom Waits
Mule Variations

I'll attempt to review in a few words one of the albums that marked the return of Saint Tom after the release of "The Black Rider" and 7 years since Waits' last solo album, the great "Bone Machine". This work stands out for the rural atmosphere that accompanies every song, recorded in the Northern California countryside amidst the greenery and mules, which also inspired the album's title, born from a phrase said by Kathleen "I didn’t marry a man... I married a mule", a phrase that inspired and struck our... and was transformed into "Mule Variations".

I believe that in this album there is a strong and clear component of country-blues: "Lowside Of The Road", "Get Behind The Mule", "Cold Water", "Chocolate Jesus", all tracks with a slower sound progression and a more classic style (if you can define a Waits work like that...) compared to both previous works and those yet to come like the latest (beautiful) "Real Gone".
Ballads like "Hold On", "Take It With Me", "Pony", "Picture In A Frame" and tracks more in the Waits style and "Bone Machine" spirit are not missing in "Big In Japan" and the great "Filippino Box Spring Hog". Then, as always, there couldn’t be an absence of a spoken-song in the truthful "What's He Building?"

What can be said about these mule variations... an excellent return after a long period of silence or nearly so... where we find a calmer and more reflective Tom but with great impact from the first listen. Between the lines, it’s impossible to overlook the influence in this album more than before from the equally great Captain Beefheart... an artist our own has always appreciated and been inspired by. I believe Tom can teach a lot to everyone, especially in terms of values and choices related to their own music and personality. After 5 years of following him, I now manage to hear and find music even in the work of a construction site... and this is mainly thanks to that saint Tom.