{"id":29411,"date":"2025-05-23T05:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T09:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29411"},"modified":"2025-05-21T10:03:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T14:03:29","slug":"album-review-murray-attaway-tense-music-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/23\/album-review-murray-attaway-tense-music-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Murray Attaway \u2013 [tense music plays\u2026]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"I grew up in the 1970s and \u201880s in metro Atlanta. That meant I had a front row seat to the development and rise of bands like Dixie Dregs<\/a>, Kansas, Starbuck (the yacht rocking \u201cMoonlight Feels Right\u201d), Mother\u2019s Finest, R.E.M.<\/a> (from nearby Athens), Swimming Pool Q\u2019s<\/a>, The Coolies, LMNOP<\/a>, The Producers, The (Georgia) Satellites\u2026 and Guadalcanal Diary<\/a>. The last-named group never quite got the success it deserved, though a dalliance with a major label (Elektra) did help bring \u201cWatusi Rodeo\u201d to a wider audience. I saw the Marietta-based group live on several occasions, and always thought they were destined for the Big Time, even with their unwieldy name.<\/p>\n

But by 1989 the group had split. Leader Murray Attaway inked a solo deal with Geffen Records, and in 1993 recorded and released the superb In Thrall<\/i>. That album featured big-name guest players including pianist-to-the-stars Nicky Hokpins. But In Thrall<\/i> sold in meager numbers. A crime, that; both \u201cAllegory\u201d and \u201cFall So Far\u201d were easily the equal of the best Guadalcanal Diary cuts.<\/p>\n

Setting aside the matter of an unreleased followup, Attaway hasn\u2019t been heard from on record since as a solo artist. Until now, that is: the cleverly-titled [tense music plays\u2026]<\/i> signals a welcome return for the singer-songwriter-guitarist.<\/p>\n

When such a long period elapses \u2013 and this is merely an anecdotal observation, so your mileage may vary \u2013 too often the aging artist is found to have moved in an overtly twangy, mellowed-out Americana direction. When that happens, I\u2019m largely put off. Happily, that\u2019s not the case with Murray Attaway. Right out of the gate, \u201cBreath\u201d displays the same virtues as his material of decades past. His voice seems not to have aged, and his melodic skills are as sharp as ever. Perhaps thanks to its one-man-band approach, [tense music plays\u2026]<\/em> has a more up close and personal sonic character than the big-budget In Thrall<\/i>. The vocal melody of \u201cBreath\u201d is in counterpoint to the instrumentation, providing a nice contrast that works.<\/p>\n

\u201cStar Behind the Moon\u201d has a contemplative, British folk-feeling character. The subtle violin work from guest artist Ana Balka gives a Roma\/Eastern European flavor to the lovely song. Attaway\u2019s gentle guitar picking suggests some of Jethro Tull\u2019s subtler moments, with a bit of Richard Thompson for good measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cHole in the Ground\u201d opens with a Stonesy guitar figure; the tune hearkens back to Guadalcanal Diary\u2019s salad days. Some inventive chord shadings add interest to the vaguely sinister melody. The spare arrangement of \u201cBetter Days\u201d shines a light on Attaway\u2019s skills as an acoustic guitarist, and on his vivid way with lyrics. \u201cNever Far Away\u201d applies a similar aesthetic to a gently amplified guitar. \u201cOld Christmas\u201d suggests field blues, but folds in some unexpected textures \u2013 cello, splashes of combo organ, gong(!) \u2013 for a spooky, old-time vibe. The extended acoustic feel continues on the guitar-and-voice \u201cStranger.\u201d\u00a0The electric instruments and rock arrangement return for the closing track, \u201cYou Were There.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once again, Murray Attaway delivers on the promise of his previous band and solo efforts of decades ago. In total, [tense music plays\u2026]<\/i> marks the triumphant return of a valued artist. Enthusiastically recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up in the 1970s and \u201880s in metro Atlanta. That meant I had a front row seat to the development and rise of bands like Dixie Dregs, Kansas, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,49,62,65],"tags":[3559,5686],"class_list":["post-29411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-review","tag-guadalcanal-diary","tag-murray-attaway","cat-39-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29411"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29444,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29411\/revisions\/29444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}