'Hutterite Mile', or whatever that means, is a thunder-bolt from the past. Is Gram Parsons reborn? Having been recently introduced to 16 Horsepower (by means of Secret South--life is wasted sometimes), I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I'm actually ensnared, not merely hooked, on this. Folklore is no mystery, as you should soon find out. 'Hutterite' is a soft acoustic medley, fiddle-spotted at least expected points--a stream of reflection around an islet of rich harmony.

Again, with past specters and contemporary pleas, a series of melodies erected specifically for the roll of accompanying vocals, Horsepower have delivered an album of superb and sinful grasp.

'Outlaw Song' and 'Sinnerman' say all of that even if one overlooks their titles. The closest to Arab Strap on this side of the Atlantic is 'Blessed Persistence', except the latter is tangibly hypnotic albeit without the digital overdubs. 'Single Girl', however, hints at honky-tonk so outrageously as to be unwarranted--even disruptive. Skip that and you get 'Beyond The Pale', a Mark Lanegan-style recessional, intense with vocoder-plugged lyrics, one song that you'd swear was written by Lambchop for the ceremony at the end of the world.

Folklore is the fourth studio album of the David Eugene Edwards fronted quartet (although a trio for the first three albums--having supported a multi-colored galaxy of guest musicians on their 2000 album Secret South and Violent Femmes' Gordon Gano on Fiddle for 1996 debut Sackcloth 'n' Ashes). Ex-Passion Fodder members Jean-Yves Tola (drums) and Pascal Humbert (stand-up and standard bass), along with new addition Stephen Taylor (electric guitar), make up the rest. This is their first record with built-in catchiness and wholly sanitized of anything bearing a punk titular. Edwards plays a variety of instruments (bandoneon [old-style accordion], banjos, acoustic guitar, among others) and their sounds have an indelible effect on the mood and progression of songs--witness 'Alone and Forsaken' and hymnal and jaw-gnawing 'Horse Head Fiddle'.

A trait that distinguishes Edward from his self-proclaimed heroes (Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and Nick Cave, to name a few) is the lack of an intentional story line or a covert meaning to the lyrics of each track, yet they combine to great effect. "Word by word she spoke to me/ Hidden 'neath the mess bag on linen," Edwards evokes on mesmeric 'Flutter', one track heightened alternately between piano and Spanish guitar. I'm truly grateful to the one who introduced me to the art of 16 Horsepower. The aftertaste is one of having reclaimed time lost between fragments of pop idols and idolaters. Having said that, closing track 'La Robe a Parasol', a German sausage festival polka, is rather a waste of time too.

8.5