Paul Curreri’s sixth album California is a work of contradictions — its tunes are both ragged and refined, its lyrics quirky but serious. What is clear-cut is its sharp intelligence and rambunctious spirit, served up by Curreri with a street busker’s unpretentious charm. Much of California feels like a beatnik travelogue, especially the propulsive, sung-spoken “Here Comes Another Morning” and the nicely ramshackle “Now I Can Go On.” Curreri combines a growly but supple vocal presence with a shimmering acoustic guitar touch reminiscent of Bruce Cockburn. He reaches for visionary heights in the title tune and taps into a deep bluesy vein in “The Line.” There’s a traditional side to his music as well, heard in the woozy waltz “Tight Pack Me Sugar” and the camp-meeting gospel number “Down By the Water.” California is filled with surreal, almost goofy wordplay (see “Once Upon a Rooftop”), but tracks like “I Can’t Return” likewise display great honesty and tenderness. Curreri’s wife Devon Sproule joins him for a haunting duet on Michael Hurley’s “Wildegeeses.”
Other Versions
- 13 Songs
More By Paul Curreri
- 2010
- 2011
- 2007
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- The Tallest Man On Earth
- Gregory Alan Isakov
- Alexi Murdoch
- The Wailin' Jennys
- The Low Anthem
- Brandi Carlile