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In addition to his long and illustrious acting career, Jeff Bridges is also an accomplished photographer and visual artist as well. With one CD to his credit already, the Renaissance Dude releases another this month that will resonate with fans of his role as Bad Blake in the film Crazy Heart. This is Bad’s album as much as it is Bridges’. Continuing with the winning formula that made the Crazy Heart soundtrack such a solid collection, Bridges includes a number of tunes penned by Stephen Bruton. The circle is completed with Bridges’ old friend T-Bone Burnett behind the board as producer once again, as he was for the Crazy Heart soundtrack.
The material here seems almost an extension of the Bad Blake persona, with most of it falling into the same rugged, outlaw country sound similar to Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. But Bridges does push the envelope a little bit here with a couple tunes, gently extending the boundaries of traditional country & western song-craft with unexpected abstractions in his lyrics and phrasing. The unmistakable sound of Marc Ribot’s guitar smartly stabbing through the fabric of “Tumbling Vine” is enough to dash any argument that this is a straight country record.
“Tumbling Vine” is one of a trio of songs on the record that were written by Bridges. His tunes are rife with desolate soundscapes, dark moods, and unorthodox arrangements that keep the listener guessing even after repeated plays. Bridges’ tunes hold up surprisingly well alongside compositions by established songwriting masters like Bruton, Greg Brown, and John Goodwin.
Bridges’ lovable weirdo persona is manifested masterfully here in his grizzly mumble, growling the melodies with a gravelly baritone ravaged by booze and bad habits. Burnett’s artfully cloudy mix drapes a dreamlike haze over the whole record and it’s the perfect frame for this musical self portrait.
Two years after Crazy Heart’s release, one gets the impression that Bridges got a taste of the Bad Blake character and liked it too much to let it go. That said, it’s also easy to picture Bridges standing outside the recording studio like a painter in front of a blank canvas, determined to create something that’s never been done before. Likely to be embraced by the alt-Country ccmmunity and college radio, let’s hope this is the first of many records like this from Jeff Bridges.
