The opening, buoyant song, “ Irene (Ravin’ Bomb),” sets the tone for those to come. His style of playing is influenced by folk and country music traditions, bringing to mind such artists as John Prine and Townes Van Zandt. Much of the album is guitar-based, with Noe’s lilting and controlled singing the dominant feature of most songs. The characters that flow in and out of his songs generally are not doing well, but his general sympathies lie with them: for example, a hitchhiker wondering how to get through to the next morning, methamphetamine addicts and their fearful neighbors, a sex worker who turns up dead in a river, a couple struggling financially in a rust-belt town and so forth. More than anything else, it is Noe’s seriousness-in his voice, in his concern for others, and, at times, in his objectivity-that resonates most powerfully. An essential decency underpins his characters and their stories. In the course of 10 songs-some concerned with modern-day dilemmas and others taking up historical and “noir-like” tragedies-he paints a picture of men and women struggling, hanging on to very little or simply unable to make things work in their lives. The debut album by singer-guitarist Ian Noe, formerly an oilfield worker from eastern Kentucky, is a mostly moving collection of song-vignettes about life in the Appalachian region of the US. The two performers, each in his own distinct fashion, attempt to grapple with changes in social life-and social moods-and manage to give them intriguing musical expression. The songwriting and musicality on both, at its best, is unusually direct serious, and invigorating. Two of the more interesting albums released in 2019 were folk-based guitarist Ian Noe’s Between t he Country and violinist Andrew Bird’s My Finest Work Yet. Despite many problems, serious and moving music does continue to emerge.
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