The new record from Bill Callahan, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, is an epic-length collection of the Smog guy's stuff. The album, out this Friday via Drag City, is fairly successful, with a listener rarely getting bored with the rather lengthy release.
Some of what's here is positively breathtaking, with material like "Black Dog on the Beach" and "Morning is My Godmother" being so perfectly realized that a listener is just entranced. And at his very best here on Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, like on "What Comes After Certainty", Callahan manages to offer up simple, unadorned folk-rock that feels entirely unpretentious. I say that because the material certainly runs the risks of being too precious, and yet Bill Callahan rarely lets things get out of his control. While the title "The Ballad of the Hulk", for example, would suggest something that's too clever by half, Callahan's composition is, instead, smart and subtle, the references to the green hero necessary to make some interesting, and very human, points. Elsewhere, "Call Me Anything" works up a bit of energy, an indication of the kind of jaunty folk-rock that Callahan could have pursued here instead. It is an outlier on a record that is largely introspective and inward-looking. Not many people could pull this off but Bill Callahan does easily, with each cut on this long album rewarding a patient and attentive listener.
Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is out on Friday via Drag City.
More details on Bill Callahan via his official Facebook page.
[Photo: Hanly Banks Callahan]