Devotion + Doubt

iTunes Review

Richard Buckner's second album turns quieter and more reflective than his tuneful debut Bloomed. Less countrified, Buckner brings things to a whisper and rarely a scream as he catalogs the ups and downs of love, the seductive promise of soul-defining infatuation, the sad delusions that often follow, and the sadness that surrounds his eventual failures. (He'd been recently divorced). But this eternal romantic sings with a weary grace that makes his every observation sound like a road worth taking. He never gives in to despair but instead determines to turn his sad luck into illuminating and very private songs. Some of Buckner's most enduring tunes are here and the bare production often makes it feel as if one is eavesdropping on the proceedings. "Pull, " "Lil Wallet Picture," "A Goodbye Rye," and "Song of 27," with their mix of simple folk chords and spare, country pedal-steel guitar sweeps, create an idiosyncratic Americana that sound like a young Californian dreamer who's read his share of young Jack Kerouac. And then there's the a cappella "Fater" that strips things to the barest essential of all.