Saint Bartlett, Damien Jurado, LP

Saint Bartlett opens up with a grandiosity yet unheard on a Damien Jurado album. It strips away the many layers of paint from the house down the street, the one Jurado has occupied for the last decade, and goes to work liberally applying an exhilarating new coat, making the whole neighborhood shine in the process! Mellotrons swell, heavenly handclaps ring in stereo and big drums create a sky for the songs to fly in. Produced by fellow Secretly Canadian artist Richard Swift, his 'Spector-esque' production is spot-on, a production that positions Damien Jurado not as a folk singer but as a mystic - somewhere between Van Morrison, Scott Walker and Wayne Coyne. Saint Bartlett was made entirely at Swift's National Freedom studio in Oregon, in just under a week with only Jurado and Swift as the performers.