Damien Jurado has a compelling way with imagery. There is always at least one indelible lyric or sentiment that lingers. On Saint Bartlett that line comes in the second act, after the more upbeat and hopeful “Cloudy Shoes” and ragged feedback-laden “Wallingford,” when he turns back to mournful acoustic self-accompaniment on “Kalama” and sings, “Mother is it easy/ knowing that I will die soon? Mother will you keep me/placed on the mantle or thrown out…love is not painless its poison.” Set in 13/4 time (thanks to an evocative stutter step) Jurado recalls devastating moments with wisdom and reassuring calmness. Perhaps not since Elliott Smith has there been a singer who sounds so confidently fragile.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2010.
