The opening cut of Land of the Living is about as close to sonic perfection as you can get. The composition, the production, and the performance on “Stones from the Riverbed” are all pitch-perfect… even the lazy groan that Jones emits as he rounds out the first verse couldn’t be more spot-on.
Luckily enough for the other nine tracks, listening on vinyl negates the possibility of putting that first tune on repeat. So, once you rock back off your heels, keep treading forward. You won’t be disappointed. Every song, from there on out, is worth the effort.
From the urgent tenderness of “O Theo” to the tormented swagger of “Waking Up the Dead,” Jones knows his way around a hook and producer Cason Cooley affords each one its properly due respect. Of the batch, side two’s “Canción de la Noche” comes closest to matching stride with the opening stunner with its own measure of hypnotic grandeur.
Song by song, Land of the Living calls forth the inner demons, lets them do their worst, and then banishes them forevermore — the darkness giving way to redemption time and again.
This review originally appeared in Elmore.