New Multitudes... Old LA...

It makes for an interesting proposition - four musicians (Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames) teaming up to record an album based on the life and work of Woody Guthrie.

These sorts of projects have been attempted many times before, with a varying multitude of hallowed musicians as the subject matter, and all to mixed degrees of success. Thankfully, New Multitudes sounds like it rests firmly in the 'job well done' camp.

Taster track Old LA is surprisingly minimal and uncomplicated, relying instead on the strength of good honest contemporary rock tropes. The vocals are clear, polite - never strained or ragged like so many desperately looking to tap into the 'essence' of the genre itself. In times like these, the best music is found through the most natural of processes, and Old LA - in its whiskey bleached world-weariness - feels natural to the bone.

The music might deal with the spirit of Guthrie, but most importantly, it is never overshadowed by it - Old LA remains capable of functioning just fine on its own merit. It's in this existence - settling into the groove between places - that it finds its foundations, its confidence.

The album New Multitudes - containing Old LA - is released on the 28th February.

Old LA by FarrarJohnsonParkerYames