Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest (LP)

Rejoice! Bill Callahan's late-phase hot streak continues with his first record since 2013, Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest.

Bill's now writing from somewhere beyond his Eagle-Apocalypse-River headspace, and Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest is very much its own beast. The songs are, by and large, shorter, and there are more of them. It took almost all of the previous three albums to add up to that many.

When you finally listen to Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest, a feeling of totality, of completeness, will steal over you, like a thief in broad daylight. His roving humanism, looking forward and back with an astonishing mixture of wry detachment and deep soul, is just the tonic for nations starving for good news from an old friend. The music is lovely dreamlike Americana stripped to the bone, as only Bill Callahan can.