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Rating: David Eugene Edwards, the charismatic frontman of 16 Horsepower, during his band's current sabbatical, releases his second solo album, a work so dark, intense, and thrilling that it's been a long time since something like this has been heard.
Grandson of a Protestant preacher, he wandered for years in Colorado following his grandfather, quickly learning biblical sermons and absorbing the rigid counter-reform atmosphere of the harsh family regime. In 1992, he formed 16 Horsepower with Jean Yves Tola and Kevin Soll, a band that, thanks to a passion for the instruments of rural America turned dark, quickly gained attention for its originality and was aptly dubbed goth-folk.
With his new 'Consider the Birds,' the blond artist from Colorado under the moniker Woven Hand offers us pronounced post folk-goth accents as is his custom with 16 Horsepower, thus dark melodies and atmospheres derived from banjo, violins, and acoustic guitars, elaborated with a pronounced epic, theatrical taste, here accompanied by an underground rhythmic section that wraps this album in a sort of vortex from which it is difficult to escape. 'Consider the Birds' is permeated with a desert and shamanic spirit at times interspersed with electronic distortions, like flashes in a sky too clear to be watched.
An impressive voice that of Edwards, powerful, clear, timbric, one of the most inspired and dark voices of roots-styled American rock. Fiery gospels and folk-laden tones, all infused in an at times mystical and dense atmosphere, perfect for the delusions of a songwriter with a communicative power that is truly unique and rare, and that deserves all the attention of those who seek passion and spiritual depth from music. Recommended.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Sparrow Falls (04:45)
Holy king cause my skin to crawl
Away from every evil thing
In a cotton mouth in a cotton mouth
Quick across the water bring
Your hand speak of a broken door handle
Of thoughts and deeds a little bird sings
A little bird sings
Star rise on the face of the water
Quiet comes on the wing of a lark
Call out in an old time holler
Call out if you're afraid of your dark
I will you no grief no to see you fall
Once had a mind to I'm done with that
I mean you no harm at all
What stands between us
Runs right through my head
It's water still under the bridge
We come together in a horsehead union
Hang my tobacco hands from a beam
Silver handled and chest of drawers
Out of the longhouse I took what's yours
I took what's yours
I will you no grief no to see you fall
Once had a mind to I'm done with that
I mean you no harm at all
I will you no grief no to see you fall
Once had a mind to I'm done with that
I'm done with that
I mean you no harm at all
06 Oil on Panel (05:36)
The color has left you
No your colors fall
For her no one dreams
I've made a covenant with my eyes
All lust lashes out
When do I blink my love
Blink on illusion
On this warm bed of feathers my dove
Already gone
I never heard it come in
Life not mine to be taken
My mind not mine to be lost
I paint them roughly
I paint them in my sleep
Ira
Gula
Luxuria
Heavy as their holes are deep
Roma
Roma
Where is my country
Wholly in his hands
Worthy in his eye
You and I
I paint them roughly
I paint them in my sleep
Ira
Gula
Luxuria
Heavy as their holes are deep
Roma
Roma
Where is my country
Yeshua
Yeshua
Where you go take me with thee
Roma
Roma
Where is my country
Yeshua
Yeshua
Where you go take me with thee
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Other reviews
By humax4
This album is immense, insanely unsettling, apocalyptic, classic, it’s everything you desire in moments of anger.
Dear Edward, I have fallen in love with your music and your voice, I will always follow you wherever you go.
By Enkriko
"Consider the Birds is an immense album, with gothic and solemn tones, performed by another man in black worthy of being considered on par with the most celebrated crooners."
"It begins with 'Sparrow Falls' and it’s already American gothic, an ideal soundtrack for a Joe R. Lansdale book, with its stories of mysterious and gruesome events in a rural and hidden American South."
