Unassuming but inviting

Damien Jurado’s latest release is an unassuming collection from the Seattle-based musician where he asks questions starting with the title. There’s a hush cast over the entire album as if Jurado isn’t sure if everyone is asleep yet and doesn’t want anyone to overhear his intimate lyrics and tentative vocals. However, listen carefully and Jurado proves a poignant observer. An overarching dusky mood connects the understated melodies and delicate singing from Jurado. What’s New, Tomboy? begins with a question whose resolution Jurado defers until the very end, helping the album maintain momentum throughout its run.

“Birds Tricked into the Trees” opens the album, another enigmatic title that leaves you wondering at its meaning. Jurado’s restrained vocals mesh nicely with the gently undulating guitar and taut bass as the meaning of the song becomes clear when he repeats, “to get it right all the time/ means it’s over,” to conclude the song. Jurado often looks backward or inwards with such coolness, allowing the mood of the instruments to provide the emotional dynamic to his music.

Much of What’s New, Tomboy? follows a similar course as “Birds Tricked,” providing a cathartic combination of nostalgia and melancholy, to varying levels of success. Jurado follows “Birds Tricked” with “Ochoa,” an extended apostrophe to an unnamed “you.” Jurado is at his most compelling when he intensifies and crests singing, “sun, moon, flower/ I’ll walk you till forever,” providing contrast and shape to the song. Unfortunately, much of the album lacks this rise and fall and so many of the 10 tracks fail to distinguish themselves from each other.

“The End of the Road” (though the album’s penultimate track) takes a more upbeat approach to the album’s tone, allowing for heavier percussion and thicker instrumentation, all of which set it apart from what precedes. Jurado sings an uncertain story of love, at once reassuring (“I’ll be there to guide you when you don’t know/ just how to find me at the end of the road”) and desperate (“the road is long/ I can’t go it alone/ I need you”), all from his position of cool detachment. The song provides a much-appreciated contrast towards the album’s conclusion.

What’s New, Tomboy? is Jurado’s nineteenth studio album since 1997, five of which were released in the past four years. Jurado has certainly left his mark on contemporary folk music, and What’s New, Tomboy? further demonstrates Jurado’s ability to craft a precise mood and carry it through a whole album.