Chris Maxwell | Nothingland
(Goathouse Music)
Moving past the history and accolades of Chris Maxewell’s stint as guitarist of Skeleton Key (who toured with some of the most influential arty post-hardcore?) bands of the late ’90s is difficult, but Nothingland, his third “solo” album demands its own something. This is mingling, merging, and meshing of diverse themes, genre-bending sounds, lyrical seduction, fearless instrumentation of new and old technology, and free-spirited collaboration with world-renowned master creatives. Maxwell is the wizard casting spells over a sticky cauldron boiling down an intoxicating and gluey stew of sound. An artfully deft, soup-to-nuts concoction.
Luring us in and connecting dots of thought, he ironically achieves connection from tales steeped in the tragedy and beauty of humanity’s disconnection. The endless search for love, the nagging attempt to understand and accept death, the questioning of what the hell is America and why. The music is ambient and theatrical at times, vulnerable and cheeky at others. It is also playful, and any preciousness is offset with a sense that Maxwell isn’t falling into a trap of taking it all too seriously. How could you when combining Soviet-era synthesizers with Americana soul and conducting perhaps the world’s best guitar player (Nels Cline)? The Woodstock party is joined by longtime superstars producer/bassist Eli Crews, Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel, Marco Benevento on keys, Otto Hauser and Manuel Quintana on drums, David Lizmi and Jeff Lipstein on bass, Sam Evian on sax, and Zach Djanikian on sax and keys, with vocalists from the halo of Sufjan Stevens completing the menage. Recorded on analog tape, Wilco fans rejoice.
This article appears in November 2024.
