Inside Music with Katie Hasty

Song Of The Day: Damien Jurado utilizes full band press on 'Cloudy Shoes'

Download the track, from forthcoming album 'Saint Bartlett'

By Katie Hasty Thursday, May 13, 2010 4:17 AM

Damien Jurado

Damien Jurado can be a frustrating artist. All at once, he can meld a breathtaking, personal narrative with a back-achingling cold melody, or vice-versa, a juxtaposition that takes place most often in his solo songs, just him and his guitar.

No such ache occurs here on "Cloudy Shoes," a track culled from the singer-songwriter's forthcoming "Saint Bartlett," due May 25 via Secretly Canadian.

This effort boasts the added value of an eight-piece band, dubbed the Saint Bartlett band, or Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground for those of you who aren't into the whole brevity thing. It lifts up the tune with simple rhythm and a string section under Jurado's none-too-perfect voice, a bit like a late-'50s commercial jingle aiding on one man's crying. It's a parellel that plays much finer than some of the typical saddies that Jurado spits out (though great saddies they be), which is a good indication of the things to come on the new album.

Jurado and the Saint Bartlett band will be on tour starting on the 29th this month and will stick to the road for all of June and part of July. Those who pre-order the album score a digital download of it.

Download and stream the track below