In what appears to be somewhat of a recurring theme of late, be it a dissolved marriage or seeking a new sense of purpose, the revered singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell checks all those boxes. She’s put the first two of those behind her in the expansive, mostly joyous rebirth of spirit in her ninth studio album, Get Behind the Wheel. Arguably there are two main drivers on this wheel, Jewel and the multi-talented producer and multi-instrumentalist Will Kimbrough. Fortunately, Jewell’s longtime guitarist Jerry Miller is still aboard so he, Kimbrough, and the other musicians, which include Fats Kaplin on pedal steel for three tracks, create rousing roots rock. While Miller takes most of the electric guitar leads, Kimbrough brings his arsenal of acoustic and baritone guitars, mandolin, keyboards, and percussion. Drummer Jason Beek, keyboardist Steve Fulton and acoustic bassist Matt Murphy also contribute. Jewel may have lost some members of her touring band, but there are no concessions to a great resonating rootsy sound from this group.
Epitomizing Jewell’s rejuvenated spirit is the jangling “Alive,” where she definitely wants to burn the past and look to a new road, her voice soaring above the dueling electrics of Miller and Kimbrough. “Crooked River” speaks to one of her local favorite escape places in her native Idaho, her harmonica blending with Kaplin’s pedal steel, and she directly addresses her own rebirth in the chorus – “Wash my hands, wash my sins/Let me shiver in your ruthless wind/Take me down, take me in/Oh, you Crooked River.” The subject is dark but the music is celebratory and stomping in the swaying “Lethal Love.” According to Jewell, the darker aspect of love is always present so there is no need to make a dirge. The jaunty “Come Home Soon” has Jewel sounding so bright, you’d welcome her company.
She expresses an authentic yearning for one of her favorite places in the pedal steel imbued “Winnemucca,” painting a picture of the small northern Nevada town. “Could You Would You” dates to Van Morrison’s group Them, a simple but infectious song about innocent love, filled with powerful guitar chords with a classic riff that reminds of that most famous Them song, “Here Comes the Night.” The soulfulness of the ballad “Breakaway’ owes to a version of the heartbreaking song that Jewell associates with Irma Thomas. She pours out her recent emotions of loss as a way of relating to others sharing similar experiences in “You Were a Friend of Mine,” colored by Miller’s tremolo-rich guitar solo and her accompanied close – “You were a friend of mine.”
The standout “Outsiders” is her ode to the movie of the same name. She gives it a dramatic rendering, after recently viewing the film that she first viewed at seven years old, calling it responsible for her warped view of the world. Continuing in her cathartic personal expose, the soft and flowing “Silver Wheels and Wings” speaks to finding growing comfort and freedom in the loss. Again, Kaplin’s masterful pedal steel captures the feeling perfectly. She caps the album by investing just all of these feelings – sorrow, disappointment, resolve, and determination in one song that builds from the depths to glimmers of hope with an ethereal, psychedelic backdrop that reflects an unbalanced haziness in her journey.
Both lyrically and musically the album is full of outstanding moments. Almost counterintuitively Jewell leads with the joyful songs, leaving the heartbreakers to the latter half of the album. It’s a brilliant stroke as it likely does a better job of keeping the listener engaged. Kimbrough, as per usual, does a splendid production job.
