The Fatalist
The Fatalist shows how much room Buffalo Nichols can make for himself within the blues. His acoustic guitar and low voice remain recognisable. Around them, drum machines, samples and synthesizers give the songs a more unsettled setting. The sound develops the stories further. Its darker colours fit the uncertainty and questions running through them.
Cold Black Stare begins spare and threatening. The slide guitar has sharp edges while Nichols' voice determines the song's weight. His version of You're Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond then goes further. Older blues voices meet electronic rhythms without pushing the guitar out of the centre. The past has a place in music clearly made from the present.
That approach does not always need a large sound. Love Is All relies on lively guitar picking and a simpler, gentler setting. The restraint gives the words space. Turn Another Stone places a lighter musical movement against a much harder story of travel and wanting somewhere to belong.
On The Long Journey Home, banjo, violin and electronic backing create a more enclosed atmosphere. The Fatalist Blues brings that threat forward, with dark synthesizers and a driving electronic rhythm beneath the voice. Much of its intensity comes from how the sound develops.
Listeners mainly seeking memorable riffs and outgoing solos have fewer immediate points of connection. The album asks for attention to atmosphere, small changes and vocal delivery. This is where Nichols finds a convincing individual sound. The Fatalist opens the traditional blues form enough to admit new ideas while guitar and storytelling continue to hold the music together.
