when gary louris hinted that the next jayhawks studio album was going to be a batch of covers, one might wonder why one of the best songwriters of the americana movement would do such a thing. what he really meant was that he was going to revisit nine songs that he had previously co-written with other artists for inclusion on their albums, and then add two more at the end written solely by him. we get a song (‘gonna be a darkness’) written with jakob dylan for the hbo series ‘true blood’, two songs from the dixie chicks’ 2006 album ‘taking the long way’, and then another handful of songs from more obscure artists (wild feathers, scott thomas, carrie rodriguez, ari hest). he embellishes all with the trademark jayhawks’ signatures: pristine harmonies, folk rock jangly guitars, and the immaculate production of both the recordings and the song structures.

the jayhawks’ sound has to a large degree been defined by the arc of louris’ artistic vision (especially since the departure of mark olson long ago). this one certainly has his stamp, but seems to be more of a collaborative effort. indeed, for the first time ever we have not just one but two songs with a female as the lead singer. keyboardist karen grotberg sings the album’s memphis styled driving opener, ‘come cryin’ to me’. drummer tim o’reagan also gets two lead vocalist spots.

if you are familiar with the jayhawks’ body of work, then you will know that they are masters of the art of song craftsmanship. not quite pop, note quite rock, and not quite folk, but a well drafted fusion of the best of all of those genres. when critics mention that a song has a ‘hook’, they are usually referring to the ability of a song or lyric that grabs you and pulls you in . the jayhawks have always been one of those bands that has been able to deliver on this for going on thirty years now. this album simply adds to their legacy. maybe their best overall release since ‘rainy day music’. a great addition to your summer playlist.