Dolour - The Years In The Wilderness

The fourth and strongest album to date by Shane Tutmarc's Dolour, "The Years in the Wilderness" is an ambitious 19-song set split up into two parts: The bombastic, occasionally dark rock of Storm & Stress and the lighter, but moody, jazz-pop of Hell or High-water. The new album is a departure from Dolour's previous albums, New Old Friends (2004) and Suburbiac (2002), which were very manicured, production-heavy albums, featuring hundreds of over-dubs performed by Tutmarc himself. On this album, Tutmarc looked to the past to find a fresh way to record; inspired by Miles Davis's recording sessions, he gathered his favorite musicians and let the songs come together live in a Seattle studio over two very full sessions. Storm & Stress combines the grandeur of Led Zeppelin's more ambitious tracks with the pop-noise of the Pixies and Nirvana. Hell or High-water showcases Tutmarc's love for traditional American songwriting, with nods to gospel, country, Americana, and Tin Pan Alley. Themes of love, spiritual yearning, and self-doubt lend a warmth and depth to this music that is beyond Tutmarc's years.