Villagers

by Califone

Overview

No one would have expected Tim Rutili to embrace yacht rock as an influence, and that hasn't happened yet, but his tenth album under the Califone rubric, 2023's Villagers, does suggest he's been listening to a lot of 1970s soft rock and letting the influence soak in. Of course, when Rutili was drawing on the blues in his earlier work, Califone still sounded like he'd filtered the structures through his fertile imagination, and Villagers is soft rock bent into new forms informed by his angular sonic experimentalism. "McMansions" is languid on the surface, but the occasional off-kilter bursts of guitar skronk and fiddle screech add a compelling grit. The late-night piano ballad "Comedy," punctuated with a polished horn arrangement, is married to a lyric full of violence and regret. The acoustic guitar and Latin percussion backing to "Sweetly" sounds as easy as Sunday morning, but the story is a pitiless remembrance of a relationship broken beyond repair, and the darker it gets, the more the music bends to the mood. The push and pull of form and content is something Rutili has always done well, and the skillful instrumental execution on Villagers extends even to the many sonic left turns; they may seem unexpected but make perfect sense in context, like a gunshot that happens just when it's most dramatically effective. The opening track, "The Habsburg Jaw," shows he hasn't forgotten how to put his more eccentric leanings up front once in a while, even if they're (just barely) held in place by a melody that could have been a great pop tune if he'd wanted. Under Rutili's leadership, Califone has been one of the most satisfying acts in Chicago's post-rock community for over two decades, and with Villagers he's shown he's not out of interesting ideas and intriguing places to take them, even when he's letting the surfaces seem more engaging. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	05/19/2023
Label:	Jealous Butcher
UPC:	0843563141489
Rank:	59757

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Califone   Primary Artist
Stephen Hodges   Percussion
Rachel Blumberg   Drums,Percussion
Michael Krassner   Organ,Piano,Guitar,Synthesizer
Brian Deck   Drums,Percussion,Electronics,Synthesizer
Ben Massarella   Drums,Percussion
Robin Vining   Organ,Piano
Cory Gray   Trumpet
Tim Rutili   Bass,Loops,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Synthesizer
Nora O'Connor   Vocals
Brad Dujmovic   Bass,Electronics,Synthesizer
Aaron Stern   Bass
Max Knouse   Guitar,Vocals
Joshua Hill   Cello,Violin,Strings
Macie Stewart   Vocals
Will Curry   Clarinet,Saxophone
Ryan Jewel   Drums
Wally Boudway   Bass

Technical Credits

Adam Gonsalves   Mastering
Michael Krassner   Engineer,Producer
Brian Deck   Mixing,Engineer
Cory Gray   Engineer
Tim Rutili   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Brad Dujmovic   Engineer
Tristan Dolce   Engineer
Aaron Stern   Engineer
Rob Jones   Design
Max Knouse   Engineer
Brian Rosemeyer   Engineer
Joshua Hill   Engineer
Ryan Jewel   Engineer
Travis Haight   Photography