J.Tillman, A Year In The Kingdom

Welcome to the stark, evocative world of J.Tillman. His latest offering doesn't disappoint as a work that cuts deep. As tortured souls go the listener is left with a sense that he is not wallowing in angst like a ranting manic hobo. Rather that he is a traveller documenting his highs and lows with a bottle of wine and his musical friends to back him up. They could be pleasantly making music in the comfort of the lounge or on the beach at sunset, such is the intimacy of the music. With interesting soundscapes and combinations of instruments, particularly the hammered dulcimer, a much under used instrument, the album is touching and emotional. His lyrics bely a man who has endured a life far more than his youthful age would suggest.

Certainly he is aware of his mistakes, as we see in the touching and thoughtful 'Though I have wronged you.' Tillman surges forward exactly as he pleases when it could have been easy to cash in on the countless positive accolades he has received as drummer of the hugely successful Fleet Foxes. Yet he is content to be as he is, singing from the heart with real honesty and integrity. Certainly this is his most positive work to date and has a freshness that places him in the spheres of Ray Lamontagne and Bon Hiver, away from the more catchy sing-a-longs of the Fleet Foxes.