Evan Cheadle - Fault Line Serenade (2021)

When the dew falls over the tall grass of the Pacific Northwest and the autumn sun glistens like a million skylights darting off into space and reflecting back off the Olympic Peninsula, the smell is sweet and yet, decay is in the air. The hum of fog horns churn in the distance, while lorries ply by and billboard signs weep and peel along highway 17, calling to mind last summer's humidity. The fishermen go out to sea even as high heels click along side streets and a barge piled high with a stack of junk cars unexpectedly tumbles into the harbour. Here in Victoria, David Parry (Loving) and Evan Cheadle set up in Parry's analogue studio; the two calling on a crew of brilliant musicians, which includes the likes of Clayton Linthicum (Kacy and Clayton) & Keenan Mittag-Degala (Elan Noon). Lilting violins, violas and cellos blend with acoustic guitars as the pedal steel chimes. The nearby pub seems to always beckon and call, but a shadowy figure lights the road on fire with metre high flames, so they take the long way back to the studio. When the light on the highway flickers and the morning sun begins to rise, they set up a pair of microphones to record “Ice Water.” The coffee pot steams like cloud bursts, yet no one looks at the clock on the wall, not even as the morning sun peaks through the stained-glass window colouring the moment.

Fault Line Serenade was written in between several years of touring as a member of The Deep Dark Woods. By the time Cheadle came to record, he had stock piled this collection of songs which harken back to records produced in the 60s and 70s. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Gene Clark and Bobbie Gentry to Bert Jansch and Tim Hardin. Everything on display within this Fault Line Serenade.