Zoh Amba: Eyes Full review โ raw, rugged country rock also has real tenderness
(Matador) Better known as a formidable free jazz saxophonist, these thrashing songs about the artistโs Tennessee childhood home share a similar genre-pushing intensity On opening track OCD, Zoh Amba stops a twinkling, rootsy guitar melody and starts over, searching for the right way to tell the story of a boy diagnosed with โdreaminโ all the timeโ. Amba lands on a queasy combination of empathy and conspiracy (โsaid that mind needs fixinโ / gunna end up like everybodyโ), churned up by thrashing, violent strumming โ the kind that causes blisters and wrecked strings. These cryptic postcards from Ambaโs home town of Kingsport, Tennessee describe childhood memories with fresh eyes: they left at 17 and returned only recently, now in their mid-20s. Blending gruff reality with poetic licence, Eyes Full is a rugged, experimental country rock record that feels deeply lived in, despite representing an abrupt change in sound: Amba is best known as a prodigious free jazz saxophonist. Continue reading...