Chris Eckman – The Land We Knew the Best

What does it sound like?:

It’s 10 years since Chris Eckman called time on The Walkabouts’ 30-year career. During those years the band delivered a dozen albums that morphed from their initial punk sensibilities into a rich stew of string-enhanced songs that embraced a distinctly European vibe. Not surprisingly perhaps given The Walkabouts’ greater standing this side of the pond that Eckman decamped to Ljubljana once the band’s time was up. Since then he has intermittently released albums of which this is the third in an impeccable trilogy that began in 2013 with Harney County, progressed into the spare but sublime Where the Spirit Rests in 2021, and finally reached a career high point in this latest release.

Often described as evoking Jacques Brel, Eckman ploughs a similar furrow to Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. He has worked with Willard Grant Conspiracy on two of their finer albums (Regard the End & Let it Roll), but while Robert Fisher’s musical collective latterly experimented with dissonance and minimalism, there is a strongly consistent melody and warmth underpinning Chris Eckman’s best work, exemplified in all three of these most recent albums. Harney County’s impressions of desert landscapes in Oregon are sparely realised, where what has been left out of the music is just as important as what has been left in, as Eckman has described it. Even more sparse is Where the Spirit Rests, where everything has been pared down to intimate whispered vocals enhanced with acoustic guitar and occasional rumbles of moody electric guitars and synths, best exemplified on the sublime ‘Cabin Fever’. The album was born out of Covid after Eckman hadn’t played guitar for some time. It is an immersive and often discomforting listen, one for late nights where the music wraps you like a blanket, haunted as well as haunting.

The Land We Knew the Best is fuller and warmer than its predecessor, less intimate but more fully instrumented. The Slovenian landscapes of empty forests and mountains with which Eckman is familiar are now balanced with sounds of the American west. There is a rich guitar sound in songs like ‘Town Lights Fade’ and ‘Buttercup’ while ‘Laments’ almost sounds like Crazy Horse cutting loose. In Walkabouts days where Eckman’s vocals alternated with those of Carla Torgersen, the harmonising of their voices brought warmth to Eckman’s more dispassionate and doom-laden style. His voice is deeper and richer these days, but here it is augmented with harmonies from Jana Beltran. There is a wider range of instruments here too, with viola, piano, pedal steel and harp variously enriching the musical palette. Many of the band are Slovenian locals.

If push came to shove I would plump for The Land We Knew the Best as being the most fully realised work of Chris Eckman’s solo career, but all three of the albums described here form a rich seam of work that repays repeated listens. All three feature glorious music, excellent songcraft and thoughtful lyrics from a greatly underrated and under the radar artist. All are highly recommended.

What does it all *mean*?

A 40 year career is no impediment to delivering your finest work.

Goes well with…

The Walkabouts of course, Nick Cave, Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Handsome Family on steroids.

Release Date:

2025

Might suit people who like…

All of the above.

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