Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter
Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul
(Barsuk)
Sykes’ fourth LP finds her building on the previous success of 2004 critical darling Oh, My Girl. Opening track “Eisenhower Moon” could be mistaken for a Neil Young cast-off, while there are traces of Jefferson Airplane-era Grace Slick (“LLL”) and Linda Thompson (“You Might Walk Away,” “The Air is Thin,” “The Open Halls of the Soul”) throughout. Sykes’ vocal style seems fitting for a 1920’s Parisian smoking bar, while the help of collaborator/boyfriend/ former Whiskeytown guitarist Phil Wandscher creates the right mix of rock, folk and alt-country. This should expand her musical visibility.
—Aaron Hartling