Musical talent aged like fine wine

Since 1995, Damien Jurado has made his impact on the indie-rock world. His cult-like following started with the release of his first album, Waters Ave S, in 1997. This break-through record led Jurado to release 15 more albums, 16 EPs, six singles and five tour-only records over the past 20 years, and now he is back with record number 16, The Horizon Just Laughed.

The 45-year-old American singer-songwriter has taken on the biggest task of his career with The Horizon Just Laughed. Jurado self-produced the album, which was a first for him in his history book of a career. The 11-track album explores a more nostalgic and graceful look into the ever-expanding travels of Jurado’s life. The album is a teleportation of mind and body through the great states of the U.S. with the help of a sultry lumberjack’s voice guiding the way.

Each song on the album has a folky over-tone from the minimalistic use of guitar and vocals. With titles including names of women, men and locations, each track contains more details of Jurado’s life. Songs like “Over Rainbows and Rainier” and “Dear Thomas Wolfe” combine an element of blues and country-rock to create that familiar feeling of homeyness. With the help of Anna Lynne Williams’ beautifully dainty voice, “The Last Great Washington State” is an ode to older times and even older rhymes. Jurado uses the line “To all the questions that led to more questions” not only in this song but in “Working Titles” from his album Maraqopa in 2012. “Percy Faith” and “1973” are both filled to the brim with stanzas of lyrical masterpieces like “Someone shouted your name and I swear they shouted fire.”

Jurado’s songs on The Horizon Just Laughed are so intimate you might start to think they are coming from your own head. Each track on the album uses specific names of people in specific places and though the listener might not have been in that place at that time, Jurado makes it quite easy to feel as if you were right next to him while he wrote. He might not be a household name, but he has mastered the art of lyrically challenging the listener to think harder and longer. This very well might be his most fine-aged, mature piece of musical combinations that he has created yet, and it will surely last the test of time.