Colter Wall
Colter Wall's low voice gives his self-titled album a strong identity before the arrangements need to do very much. Rough and heavy, it can make a simple line sound worn by experience. The music leaves that quality exposed, usually placing acoustic guitar close to the singing and adding other instruments with restraint. It is a striking sound, though the stories need to justify its weight.
Thirteen Silver Dollars does that through a small, incomplete scene. A man is found in the Saskatchewan snow, and Wall gives enough detail to suggest a life without explaining every part of it. The repeated chorus is lively and direct. That combination of a memorable tune and an unresolved situation makes an effective introduction to the album.
Kate McCannon takes a much darker route. The account of a relationship and murder builds towards its final act with a force that comes from the delivery as much as the events. The spare setting leaves little distance between the listener and the narrator. It is disturbing because Wall commits to the story without needing to decorate it.
Fraulein offers a welcome contrast. Tyler Childers' higher harmony gives Wall's bass voice another colour to work against, making the duet one of the most inviting performances here. Bald Butte returns to detailed storytelling, with steel and drums helping its tale of theft and revenge develop a stronger physical presence. These changes show how useful even modest additions can be.
The narrow sound also creates the album's main limitation. Its darkness can accumulate across the running order, and the older language and familiar folk subjects keep some songs at a distance from the present. Dave Cobb largely stays out of the way as producer. That suits Wall's voice, but a broader instrumental palette could have given parts of the record more movement.
Even with those reservations, the album offers more than an unusual vocal register. Wall has conviction, a feel for a telling detail and the patience to leave a story partly unexplained. His country and folk references are clear, but the strongest performances make them feel inhabited. This is an arresting introduction whose concentrated mood is both an asset and a boundary.
