Prairiewolf has been blending together the adjacent worlds of ambient country, kosmische musik and minimalist spiritual jazz for a handful of years now, yet on this, their third full-length LP, they appear to have finely tuned their craft and developed a sound that is truly their own.
Available now on Centripetal Force, Zone Poems finds the trio of Stefan Beck (guitar, baritone guitar and lap steel), Jeremy Erwin (organ, mellotron, guitar and synth) and Tyler Wilcox (bass guitar) leaning into shadowy, tightly-constructed grooves that easily make you feel like you’re floating above your stereo.
From the cyberpunk noir meditation that is “The St. Vrain Method” to the wistfully dreamy cosmic Americana textures of “Dream Logic,” this is the band firing on all cylinders. While their past two records were also fantastic in their own right, this album if their first that doesn’t feel like an experiment for what this melding of disparate styles could sound like. Instead, this is a record full of assurance with solidly intentional compositions from a band that genuinely knows itself. That being said, of course, the album still feels loose enough that it appears to have plenty of moments of free improvisation. This is especially true on “Modifications” and “Burning Edges.” Being partially recorded live, I’m sure there is far more spontaneity throughout, but the group is so well-seasoned now, it would be difficult to discern one way or another (the sign of an absolutely cracking jazz band, as my jazz studies professors would always say).
While dipping into tastes of exotica lounge (“Viewpoint”) and even hints of electronica (“Everything Ascending”) with streams of flute-like mellotron, waves of melty lap steel and astral guitar meditations drifting over retro drum machine beats, this is a record for a vast variety of different heads with various unique tastes of music. Being their strongest release to date, I for one cannot wait to hear where this band goes to next. Grab your copy on vinyl, CD or digital (with a bonus disc of early sessions!) from Centripetal Force today.
-KH
Speaking of Centripetal Force, have you also heard the brand new SOMA Kirtan album that cae out on the label back in June? Strongly recommended if you’re a fan of psychedelically infused devotional music and chanting:
