Joe Henry Reveals New Solo LP

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 27, 2011

Multifaceted songwriter Joe Henry has been releasing music for 25 years and he's still going strong. On October 11, the industry veteran will release a new LP, Reverie, via Anti-.

A press release promises that the record "stands as a career high point." The album is all-acoustic, but that doesn't stop it from being a "raw and raucous and messy affair." The energy here is reportedly "fuming and nervously ticking."

Of the album, Henry said in a statement, "I knew it should be stripped and lean but not demur, sonically speaking; in black and white, but not without red blood in its veins."

The album contains contributions from guitarist Marc Ribot, singer Jean McClain, Irish songstress Lisa Hannigan and more.

"This album speaks about time," the songwriter said of the disc's weighty themes. "The great river that reminds us we are buoyant after all, as its moving current lifts us by the chin and just off of the balls of our feet, while we strain to dig our toes into the sandy ground. I am not convinced that any song exists without some knowing nod in its direction. And so with Reverie I am nodding, then -- to time, but also to all the love, hope, despair, and revelation that stands naked inside its weather."

This 14-track collection is the follow-up to 2009's Blood from the Stars. See the tracklist below and preview the raw, folksy single "Odetta" over at NPR.

Reverie:

1. "Heaven's Escape"
2. "Odetta"
3. "After the War"
4. "Sticks & Stones"
5. "Grand Street"
6. "Dark Tears"
7. "Strung"
8. "Tomorrow Is October"
9. "Piano Furnace"
10. "Deathbed Version"
11. "Room at Arles"
12. "Eyes Out for You"
13. "Unspeakable"
14. "The World And All I Know"

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