Maraqopa
Damien Jurado’s tenth LP is a grandly romantic concept album about a man who decides to disappear from society. Jurado, too, ventures outside his comfort zone here, offering uncharacteristically hard-rocking solos (“Nothing Is the News”) and chilling backup singing (“Life Away from the Garden”). Much of *Maraquopa* is still Jurado doing what he does best: calmly crooning incisive lyrics from behind his charming guitar (“Working Titles,” “Maraquopa”). No respite from melancholy, these poignant tracks bear Jurado’s trademark wistfulness, especially the heartening “Museum of Flight.”
At Richard Swift's National Freedom studios, the live-to-tape ethos allowed the songs on Damien Jurado's 'Maraqopa' to expand and retract like a great beast's breath. Every in-the-moment bell and whistle here is hung with a natural, casual care. And from this, each song offers up its own unique gift: the enchanting children's choir that echoes each line of Jurado's lament for innocence lost on "Life Away from the Garden"; the breezy bossa nova that begins "This Time Next Year" and rises as effortless as a smoke cloud into high-noon showdown pop; "Reel to Reel"'s wobbly, Spector-symphony and its meta themes; the wonderful falsetto vocal work Jurado pulls from himself on "Museum of Flight." The Seattle Times recently called Jurado "Seattle's folk-boom godfather," a praising recognition to be sure. But also a title Jurado might not yet be ready to accept. That's a title for someone who has settled. With each visit to National Freedom, Jurado is exploring, taking risks. He's not only freeing his songs. The gate is opened wide to allow us all into his once-isolated musical universe. One gets the sense he's just now hitting his stride.
The Seattle singer/songwriter reunited with Saint Bartlett producer Richard Swift for his 10th studio album. The collection's success lies in the pair's restless experimentation.
Consistent, able, thoughtful, and calm, solo folkies like Seattle’s Damien Jurado are immune to the ebb and flow of critical tide. They have their place, they have their fans, they aren’t hurting anyone—hand them some measured praise and let them pass. But Maraqopa signifies a shift from an album-length exercise in…
Fifteen years and ten albums into his career, the Seattle singer-songwriter seems to have found his ideal collaborator in…
Seattle singer/songwriter Damien Jurado is one of the better examples of the somewhat invisible but very real trend of gentle folk musicians who started out in hardcore bands.
Damien Jurado’s last album was a game changer. Having spent 15 years churning out folk/folk-rock albums that were sometimes excellent, but otherwise showed little sign of progression, Saint Bartlett saw Jurado explore new depths of style and production, harnessing a bit of reverb and a set of strings to great effect. Maraqopa proves it was no fluke. Opening misstep Nothing In The News aside, this continues in the slick vein of its predecessor.