Source: Album Artwork
The White Buffalo, (also known as Jake Smith) is set to release his 3rd studio LP Love and the Death of Damnation via Earache Records. Having had over 21 million streams on YouTube since September 2014, 9 tracks featured on the FX’s hit show Sons of Anarchy and recently selling out a solo acoustic show at London’s Cargo, The White Buffalo looks set for an imminent stampede of success. Although known widely as an American dark blues singer, Smith is adept at seamlessly blurring and weaving multiple genres of country, rock, folk and Americana together and combining them with poignantly evocative narratives. Undoubtedly, The White Buffalo’s strength is his ability to communicate a vast range of individual stories and struggles through his music, something very apparent within his newest album.
‘Dark Days’ opens the album. Lyrics such as “wash the troubles from my mind” and “dark days behind me” establish it as a song of reflection and retrospection. Smith depicts a man moving on from his dark days and past troubles towards a brighter future. The up beat and earthy country vibe of the song contrasts with the melancholic, gritty and mellow vocals making it sound simultaneously cynical and optimistic. It’s definitely a catchy track, with an infectious country guitar riff that will get your legs jigging along.
The third song on the album is ‘Go the Distance’ and it’s probably one of the weakest. It’s about a man describing his love for a woman. However, the track drags on and ends up being anti-climactic due to the gloomy nature of the vocals. For a love song, it’s lacking in passion and sounds strangely unenthusiastic making it disappointing. Not forgetting to mention, he claims the woman is not just his, but also “a piece of ass” which is completely misogynistic and ruins the song, which is a shame as the story telling on the rest of the album is done really well. These particular lyrics however, just seem thoughtless, sexist and carelessly chosen.
‘Radio with No Sound’ follows as probably the slowest and most thought-provoking track. It narrates the childhood of a man neglected by his mother and how he copes with these memories through alcohol, drinking himself slowly to death. Smith’s flair for raw storytelling is evident throughout this song and it’s one of the best examples of it. The lyrics evoke a deep sense of grief and despair for the child who begs his mother to “take off these chains” and “parade me around”. The arcane and husky vocals reflect the sorrow and despondency of the child. A similar pain is evoked through ‘Last Call to Heaven’, as Smith depicts a man in a dark place longing for help. Grave lyrics like “I’m so sick and tired of feeling lonely”, alongside an ominous backing of violins and slow-paced guitar riffs add to the sense of despair.
Lyrically, the sombre tone of the album continues through ‘Modern Man’ and ‘I Got You’, however both make use of a much faster and exuberant guitar riff. ‘Rocky’ then continues on this fast pace, standing out as a very catchy rock song. The final track ‘Come On Love, Come On In’ contrasts with the sound established by multiple tracks before it by heavily featuring a gospel choir and organ throughout. It’s a strong way to end the album, showcasing both Smith’s robust vocal range and ability to shift between and combine genres.
Smith has pushed himself outside of his comfort zone with this album by placing a strong focus on writing individual stand alone songs. This stands in contrast to his previous release Shadows, Greys and Evil (2013), which was a concept album consisting of one continuous narrative. Smith’s authentic portrayal of everyday struggles, alcoholism, childhood, the modern world and his admirable ability to straddle the boundaries of so many genres, definitely wins us over. The clumsy lyrics on the other hand, don’t, and they let this album down.
