[rating=8.00]
Rich Robinson’s last album under his own name, 2014’s The Ceaseless Sight, set in motion a sequence of events that, in combination with the reissue of his previous solo albums, has now culminated with the release of Flux. The co-founder of the Black Crowes has thus firmly established his own career apart from the now (permanently?) disbanded group and essentially come full-circle from his very first solo outing in 2004, Paper.
Produced by Robinson himself at Applehead Studios in upstate New York, with many of the same musicians who’ve accompanied him in the studio and on the road in recent years, a baker’s dozen tracks here manifest continuity with his previous work. Not the least of the virtues on display is the immaculate recorded sound that reveals the details of arrangements and musicianship on tracks like “The Upstairs Land.” In the context of those songs titled with metaphysical allusions, such as “Astral” and “Life,” Rich is wise to uncork a flaming guitar solo on the opener, then follow that track with “Shipwreck,” a number where he plays guitar, bass and percussion; with Joe Magistro on drums and Matt Slocum on keyboards, the trio swagger in a way that defines rock and roll.
Robinson sings with great conviction there and on “Music That Will Lift Me,” where the harmony vocals mix with acoustic guitars, effectively setting up another blistering solo. Danny Mitchell’s organ flows around the other instruments there, just one instance where, like its carefully-designed cover graphics, Flux abounds in colorful sounds: ringing piano notes introduce “Everything’s Alright,” where Daniella Cotton sings soulfully along with Robinson, turning the tune into a deceptively personal statement on the part of its author (he wrote all the songs here).
As with the placement of “Eclipse the Night” and “Ides of Nowhere,” the sequencing of the tracks on Flux maintain a brisk pace. Textures predominate on both those cuts, making the melancholy balladry of “Time to Leave” all that much more moving in its self-awareness. The instrumental corollary of such expression is the artful means by which Rich Robinson’s turned himself into a true recording artist: he can make acoustic bottleneck work in tandem with heavy electric rhythm guitar on “For To Give,” while allowing Marco Benevento’s rolling piano to dominate “Surrender.”
The cover photo on The Ceaseless Sight is a shadowy black & white photo of Rich Robinson that’s quite a stark contrast to the portrait that adorns Flux, where the quasi-sepia-toned portrait suggests the combination of self-renewal and experience at work on the record inside.
