Salt As Wolves is an interesting title.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is masterfully and with evil intent trying to sew seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind, which will lead to ultimate tragedy. He quotes ‘salt as wolves in pride’ as a reference for vigour and passion.
How does this fit in with the content of Jeffrey Foucault’s new album Salt As Wolves (released in October 2015 on Blue Blade)?
This is Foucault’s fifth collection of original songs and tenth full-length studio release. It is, however, my first serious exposure to this performer.
Salt As Wolves is packed with support players with close connections to Foucault. There’s legendary electric guitar player Bo Ramsey (Lucinda Williams, Greg Brown, Pieta Brown), bass player Jeremy Moses Curtis (Booker T), drummer Billy Conway (Morphine) and vocalist Caitlin Canty (Foucault produced her 2015 release Reckless Skyline).
The sound is clean yet rugged, reflecting the fact that the album was cut live to tape in just three days in rural Minnesota. Foucault’s furrowed, earthy drawl hovers over sparing backing arrangements, deftly filling in places but critically leaving plenty of air – room for the songs to flourish. Ramsey has always been a master of economy and nuance and his playing is a perfect complement to Foucault’s alluring lyrics. There’s an experienced and measured restraint here that is easy to embrace.
The songs reflect relationships with family, friends and lovers, almost like epistles. They seek meaning beyond the superficial. They reflect hard-fought insights and wisdom. The stories here are discerning.
Foucault’s rough hewn, lived-in voice opens up “Des Moines” about the unglamorous life on the road, playing to an empty room, driving at midnight with nothing to see. “Rico” has a stomping blues feel with quietly savage guitar.
“Left This Town” is, according to Foucault in a media release:
“A straight-up rocker without pretense. ‘Left This Town’ is one of the first songs I wrote for the Wolves record: a bottleneck slide figure in open C tuning. If Salt As Wolves is a reckoning – with the past, with the things I was raised on, ghosts and lovers, leaving town and becoming a stranger – ‘Left This Town’ is where the yelling happens. A metaphorical travelogue. We got this song in two takes, and it’s just TOUGH; No solo, no halftime bridge, no one gets fancy. The band just lays it down.”
Photo: Joseph Navas
“I Love You (And You Are A Fool)” is a tender, plaintive and soulful track which reflects a lost, complex relationship. The slithering, crawling “Blues For Jessie Mae” shows the importance of Conway’s drumming contribution, as well as killer slide from Ramsey.
The driving “Slow Talker” is at the centre of this collection (physically and spiritually) and has the refrain:
There’s one note / If you can play it / There’s one word / If you can say it / There’s one prayer / If you can pray it / And each one is the same.’
Have a look at the official video clip:
“Jesus Will Fix It For You” offers hope for all your troubles, chanting “All You Got To Do Is Call”. “Oh Mama” is a powerful story of a fractured relationship between a son and mother. “Hurricane Lamp” is yet another highlight:
It’s a long black night
Coming down on you
The one that howls inside
Where the wind blows through
I know you feel like you’re dying
For anything true
But you’ve got a light
And it shines in youKeep your light inside
Keep your light inside
Keep your light
“Strange Heat And Thunder” is full of dark and foreboding sentiments, “Leaning on a microphone, Like swinging a jawbone Out in the rain” while “Paradise” is perfect, showcasing Foucault’s voice and providing some quiet optimism. The closer is a treasure. “Take Your Time” moves along like a summer breeze and is an ideal showcase for all the key ingredients of this delicious mix.
I was at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville this September. Foucault was performing at The City Winery one night and it looked like he had most of the players on the album with him. I missed his performance. I won’t let that happen again.
Salt As Wolves is sublimely beautiful. It has plenty of vigour and passion and tragedy. Salt As Wolves indeed!
Thanks to The Syndicate
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