Full Review

Jeffrey Foucault - Ghost Repeater

While Jeff’s previous two albums are stunning collections with brilliant lyrics and imagery, the one criticism that can levelled at them is that they lack a little accessibility as the dark lyrics and musical textures can be overbearing at times. This new album addresses these issues as it retains the superb turns of phrase, but there’s a lighter, more upbeat feel which can partly be attributed to the introduction of Bo Ramsey as producer.

Ramsey’s superb but sparse guitar phrases blend superbly with Jeff’s graceful and thoughtful lyrics and the addition of a subtle rhythm section of bass and percussion gives the songs a more instant appeal.

The 11 songs have a vague theme of travel running through them with two of the strongest tracks being ‘Americans in Corduroys’ and ‘One Part Love’ (a memorable road song set in the North East of England).

In addition to Foucault and Ramsey’s instrumentation there’s some excellent pedal steel and accordion alongside backing vocals from Kris Delmhorst.

‘Ghost Repeater’ is Jeff’s most complete album yet, and a disc that mixes country, folk and blues into a truly memorable disc.