"Hyacinth"

The godfather of the gothic country genre, 55-year old David Eugene Edwards, has released a debut solo album. Time has passed. When legendary 16 Horsepower withered down twenty years ago, David Eugene Edwards took his music in a new direction with Wovenhand. In my opinion, their masterpiece is "Consider the Birds" from 2004. However, Wovenhand quickly moved away from their early introvert and enigmatic sound towards a much harder soundscape. In fact, harder for every new album. This year tragedy struck the band. The longest active member beside frontman David Eugene Edwards, drummer Ordy Garrison, died of a heart atttack on July 4, 2023. Who knows what will happen now? The solo album, "Hyacinth" is released by Sargent House in the U.S. and by Glitterhouse Records in Europe. My preconceived notion was that the album would consist of Wovenhand left-over songs and native-American experimental stuff. I was wrong. "Hyacinth" is an album in its own right. Furthermore, it's a splendid album. You can detect streaks of 16 Horsepower and early Wovenhand. But, the musical and lyrical perspective isn't just retrospective. The perspective is equally prospective. In an interview with the online music magazine Brooklyn Vegan, David Eugene Edwards said "Hyacinth was a sort of vision. A dream. I sought out of my old wooden banjo and nylon string guitar a hidden path. Secrets they had kept from me within themselves all these years, and created a new Mythos to myself of philosophical and spiritual ideas or concepts. Overall, I guess the album is a weaving of narratives ancient and modern, of humankind’s search for understanding of this world we find ourselves in and of each other. In all its simplicity and complexity, Hyacinth is a reference to the Greek myth of Apollo. And, the word meaning a precious stone and blue larkspur flower of purple and pall." This is a must-have album.