THE WHITE BUFFALO: Year Of The Dark Horse (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

"I don't play country music!" With these words, Jake Smith, aka The White Buffalo, launches the main promotional interview for his new opus entitled "Year Of The Dark Horse". It is true that the artist has regularly been classified in this typically American musical genre, especially because of the success of the tracks used in the series "Sons Of Anarchy", "Californication" or "The Punisher". However, those who have been following the man since his beginnings know that, if he works in a folk-rock domain, he stubbornly refuses to be locked in a style that is too reductive in his eyes. After the captivating "On The Widow's Walk", he decided once again to blur the tracks and launches into an ambitious work in the form of a concept mixing music and visuals.

"Year Of The Dark Horse" deals with the change of seasons and puts it in parallel with the evolution of a relationship. To illustrate this album, Jake Smith called upon four different filmmakers, each one in charge of the videos of three tracks. Some might fear that this project is too presumptuous, but that would be without taking into account the talent of a complete and unique artist. To erase any doubt in this matter, one only has to put an ear (and an eye) on 'Love Will Never Come / Spring's Song' to see the theatrical approach of which the The White Buffalo is capable. In the genre, the cries of despair on the finale of the single 'Not Today', or 'Heart Attack' and its various changes of tempo and ambiences are also good examples of the virtuosity of an artist as elusive as independent.

Captivating and varied, "Year Of The Dark Horse" quickly proves to be up to its ambitions and links the tracks without any dead time. Each piece is very expressive, often melancholic but never falling into the honeyed. 'She Don't Know That I Lie', a sad waltz with its old barrel organ, or '52 Card Pickup' and its psychedelic final prove that a ballad doesn't have to be soothing and can also be interpreted in an inhabited way, while 'Love Song #3' or 'Am I Still A Child' represent the most moving side of the style. The only small drawback to this record is that the overall peaceful atmosphere is rarely shaken by more nervous tracks such as 'Heart Attack' or 'Donna' with its bitter lyrics and a piano bastringue that gives it a hint of the good old Charleston.

"Year Of The Dark Horse" is nevertheless an exotic journey in which The White Buffalo does not hesitate to move away from his comfort zone, if he really has one. Of course, the beautiful deep voice of Jake Smith is not the only marker of the strong identity of his artistic work and it remains relatively easy to recognize him when listening to this new opus. For all that, he offers here a painting with multiple colors and facets which keeps a great global coherence and maintains the attention in awake from the beginning to the end. - Official website

THE WHITE BUFFALO

YEAR OF THE DARK HORSE

SPINEFARM RECORDS

ROCK