John Craigie Stays Optimistic with Simple and Soulful Folk Songs on ‘Asterisk The Universe’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

John Craigie is an incredible songwriter. He also happens to be a remarkable storyteller in live settings. Seattle’s alt weekly The Stranger, years ago, referred to Craigie as the “Lovechild of John Prine and Mitch Hedberg;” a pretty spot on description. As a result, much like Todd Snider before him, Craigie’s albums, no matter how great they are, often feel like they’re just bidding time before the songs show up in his shows or on a live record.

And that’s a shame, as Asterisk The Universe happens to be one of his best records yet, with ten modern folk tracks that draw musical inspiration far outside the genre, from the swamp rock organ on songs like “Climb Up,” to the funk drum and bass lines throughout. In press materials, Craigie admits to listening to a lot more hip-hop and soul while writing the album, and as a result he picked up on the simple chord structures and repetitive rhythms. “In a lot of those tunes, you hear old samples from Bill Withers, Al Green, and Nina Simone. I knew those artists’ talents were far beyond my own, but they still influenced the structure of what I was doing.”

Much like the way he recorded 2017’s No Rain, No Rose, Craigie opted to set up in a room with all of his friends and hit record. That room happened to be in a house that serves as the basecamp to the folk trio, The Rainbow Girls. As a result, they show up throughout the record, adding in a beautiful dimension to Craigie’s music. It also adds a nice contrast to 2018’s Scarecrow. That stripped down album included ten orphaned tracks written for No Rain, No Rose that were cut because they just didn’t fit the vibe. All of those tracks are slower and delivered in Craigie’s earnest vocals paired with little more than an acoustic guitar. Compared to the melancholy of Scarecrow, Asterisk The Universe is downright optimistic.

While his latest may not be another live record, it’s still brimming with stellar songs. It even includes the background chatter and laughter of the band leading into many of the songs here, for a less sterile, more spontaneous vibe. A solid record, at ten songs its stripped of any superfluous filler and serves as a great life preserver for fans until they can once again safely watch Craigie play these songs live.  

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter