Albums
Year In the Kingdom
2009
Genre: Alternative
Release Date: 2009
By Paul Thompson
Reviewed September 23, 2009
The newest Fleet Foxes member has been crafting hushed folk for years, and he stays prolific as a solo artist with this, his second LP of the year.
J. Tillman's got one a hell of a voice, of course: The newest Fleet Foxes member wasn't just plopped down behind the drumkit post- 'cuz he gives good beard. It merits mention that Tillman's been crafting hushed folk yearners for years, and that is Tillman's second LP of 2009. And it's right around here that we can stop bringing up those other dudes; whereas Foxes trade in the precise and the pristine, Tillman's songs drift along like a piece of ragged wood in the river, a little gnarled but easygoing nevertheless. He's also dealing in a much more contemporary style of folk, kinda, taking plenty of cues from Mark Kozelek's placidly expansive work with Sun Kil Moon and even more recently Bon Iver's ambient whirl. Tillman's records-- and there's no shortage-- are quiet, pensive, unassuming things, Sunday morning kick-around music. And, while the loose, oft-airy tunes can occasionally feel inexact, when cloaked in that voice and a few inspired rattletrap arrangements, you'll barely register the deficit.