Simon Joyner - Coyote Butterfly LP

Simon Joyner has spent the last 30 odd years forging a cult following within a certain tradition of American songwriting. To evoke a very tired cliche, he’s a songwriter’s songwriter, but when that term normally evokes an eye roll, Joyner’s the real deal.

His previous three or four albums in particular have seen him explore a musical and lyrical territory that draw upon the legacies of Cohen, Reed, Dylan, and Townes, or short story writers such as Denis Johnson or Raymond Carver. That is to say, there’s an image of American life that are forged in these albums that is sympathetic to the complexities and nuances of daily life and “real people” rather than big-R Romantic approaches of so many in the US songwriter pantheon.

Joyner’s latest sees him write in a starker, more personal fashion. Composed in the wake of the sudden death of his son, the character studies of recent albums give way to devastating reflections of grief. Accompanied by the Mowed Sound crew among a few others (of recent Rosali and David Nance album fame) there’s a generosity in the minimalism of the backing that draws Joyner’s writing to the fore but doesn’t overshadow it. This is by no means an easy listen but it’s of utmost quality, one of the best records of last year I reckon!

Catch Simon on his first tour of Australia later this month/early March with antipodean backing band the Eucalypts (feat. Michael Beach, Leah Senior and Jesse Williams). For locals, he’s playing the Enmore Hotel on 27th February.

-Mitch