Description
After 6 years, veteran songsmith Bill Callahan is back with a 20-track collection of sun-warmed, placid songs that are up there with his best works yet.
On Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest, straightforward prettiness often abounds, particularly on the country-leaning tracks, some with the odd female backing coo. The acoustic arrangements and brushed drums expand its sense of the infinite, and Callahan disarms the listener with humour and subtly shattering insight. Abstractions give way to specifics, and the result is a cascade of feelings, ideas, and images overlapping and enhancing each other in the listener’s mind.
What is tremendously rewarding about Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is how thoughtfully Callahan writes about his happiness, and how much his happiness proves to be enlightening for us. Unassuming yet frequently profound, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is a gorgeous and much-needed return from an artist whose powers have only grown during the time he spent living his life.
