Jay Buchanan – Weapons Of Beauty

Buchanan is the vocalist with, rockers, Rival Sons. This outfit has been Grammy nominated in the rock category and Buchanan’s sonorous yet powerful tones are a key reason. For those unfamiliar with his vocals David Gray has a similar attractive voice in timbre and resonance (but not possessing Buchanan’s 747 roar when he unleashes it.) After Buchanan sojourned in the Mojave Desert to find tranquility and space to pen a solo album he turned to Cobb to produce and craft this debut. Cobb has produced several Rival Sons releases. 

The excellent and poignant ballad, Caroline, opens the album and is an introduction to his powerful story about loss, grief and reflection (about her illness and health.) Buchanan says the emotions could be applied to other scenarios; the video is well worth a look. High and Lonesome, is a co-write with Cobb and this languorous bluesy waltz allows you to wallow in his beautiful achy tones. Sway, written to his wife, is an intimate ballad that has him swoop and soar in expressing his love. With a floaty John McVie type bass line Great Divide comes across as less pensive and earnest albeit about an ending relationship.

Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me to the End of Love gets a soulful rendition sounding like one of Buchanan’s heroes, Van Morrison. Here the vibe and tune overtakes the words as the take away. Cobb has deployed many arrangements throughout including strings and it’s this variety that complements the voice that repeatedly dazzles. Buchanan’s articulate profundity comes to the fore on Weapons of Beauty – “Give me the songs to sing in the fight / these weapons of beauty will destroy the night / it’s been so long. Give me the words / to say what I feel / I could speak this dream, for to make it real…”As an overall sound it’s not a long way from The Red Stray Clays with its pace, lyrical ruminations and sound. The Clays’ Brandon Coleman sings his songs like he’s holding court and Buchanan similarly dominates. On this latter point it can’t be a coincidence that Cobb has produced both. This is a glorious release