Jacob Augustine: I Love You Forever 
Released May 22nd
Jacob Augustine returns with I Love You Forever. Amy Jay Britton reviews, and finds a record full of unrestrained vocals and inspiring imagery.
The enigmatic Jacob Augustine is something of the Scarlet Pimpernel of the experimental folk world; impossible to pin down and also often vanishing in a more literal fashion, disappearing from the public view for years at a time before returning with expansive tours and albums. I Love You Forever is such an album, and one which very much reflects Augustine’s distinct sound and status.
The album’s opener, Medulla Burning Down, is the perfect scene setter for the world he creates, his gilded, gorgeously distinct vocals projecting a sense of historic storytelling. There are shades of Damien Dempsey and Ry Cooder in each element, but the combination draws together to be a sound very much of Augustine’s own.
The pace increases with the following Camaro, but the sense of dreamy Americana remains, as it does throughout the album. You can feel Augustine’s background and homeland, the Northern woods of Maine, seeping into every note, as richly multicoloured as a New England autumn. The natural world occurs throughout, with all the beauty you will expect, but often juxtaposed with contrasting worlds. The album’s midpoint, Animal Orchard, refers to a “violent hibernation,” while winding slowly and beautifully, with the natural world teamed with the contrast of scenes of burning buildings.
Augustine’s voice is at its most utterly free here, refusing to be restrained by form. It’s one of the album’s most epic moments, alongside Philadelphia Lights, another odyssey of contrasting images. Against a fittingly heady and dreamlike sound, Augustine gives us images of the urban world, with its city bus drives and cigarette burns, alongside those moments in which it is the rural world that inspires these man-made scenes, such as the “cinnamon pine-tree air freshener.” When he sings the line, “the lines grew dim, and the power gave in,” it evokes more than a power cut, but the sense of the modern world fading into itself.
The album closes with recent single Midnight Drum, which, in spite of dark lyrical edges, feels like a positive closer, with its warmly romantic, beautiful sound. The overwhelming feeling the album leaves you with is that of Augustine as a kind of modern-day American Transcendentalist, with this Thoreau-esque journey through the wild American seasons in nature forever present. A beautiful, liberated take on the modern folk album.
Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook
~
All words by Amy Britton. You can find more on her archive here.
A Plea From Louder Than War
Louder Than War is run by a small but dedicated independent team, and we rely on the small amount of money we generate to keep the site running smoothly. Any money we do get is not lining the pockets of oligarchs or mad-cap billionaires dictating what our journalists are allowed to think and write, or hungry shareholders. We know times are tough, and we want to continue bringing you news on the most interesting releases, the latest gigs and anything else that tickles our fancy. We are not driven by profit, just pure enthusiasm for a scene that each and every one of us is passionate about.
To us, music and culture are eveything, without them, our very souls shrivel and die. We do not charge artists for the exposure we give them and to many, what we do is absolutely vital. Subscribing to one of our paid tiers takes just a minute, and each sign-up makes a huge impact, helping to keep the flame of independent music burning! Please click the button below to help.
John Robb – Editor in Chief
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO LTW
Leave a comment