Justin Rutledge knows his number one strength—his brooding, near whispered tenor—and like Hayden or the Great Lake Swimmers, uses it to its full romantic potential. He seems determined to be taken so seriously—Rutledge doesn’t approach a song without a minor key governance or anything more than a mid-tempo flow. On The Early Widows, he employs these devices to full swoon effect, save for a several tracks, like the dynamic “Snowmen” (with its Great-Gig vocal wail outro), where his tempos and arrangements swell like we haven’t heard before. It’s a new side to Rutledge’s work, perhaps thanks to Hawksley Workman’s production skills, but one he will hopefully explore further in the future
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.