Baltimore’s rep as a music-town has gradually risen over the last couple decades, and as leader of Arbouretum guitarist and singer-songwriter Dave Heumann has played a significant role in the ascent. Heumann’s first solo LP Here in the Deep utilizes assistance from Charm City denizens and visitors including musician-producer John Parish; it’s less edgy than the work of his band but retains comparable depth. It’s out on October 16th through Thrill Jockey.
Upon soaking up a glimpse of Here in the Deep’s jacket an immediate undercurrent of familiarity set in, and it’s surprising in retrospect that it took so long for the resemblance to become clear; specifically, the relationship is to Oar, the 1969 masterpiece by Alexander “Skip” Spence. Both are simply adorned by photographs of the artists in charge, a fact not particularly noteworthy by itself; the deeper connective tissue is supplied by the departures they undertake.
Oar and Here in the Deep don’t sound much alike, though the two discs aren’t especially far apart stylistically. However, the respective backgrounds share little beyond serving as solo debuts; Oar was cut in Nashville after a stay in New York’s Bellevue hospital, Spence having tried to kill two of his Moby Grape cohorts with an axe.
Markedly contrasting, Arbouretum is described by Thrill Jockey as having simply taken a “year-long break.” And while Spence was the co-founder of Moby Grape (he was also an early member of Quicksilver Messenger Service and the drummer on Jefferson Airplane Takes Off), Heumann is the undisputed chief of a band that can be roughly synopsized as akin to a bonding session over Crazy Horse attended by Will Oldham and fellow Baltimoreans Lungfish (their drummer Mitchell Feldstein has played in Arbouretum).
Less expansively assessed as stoner rock meets electric folk, Arbouretum has peppered a five album discography with a handful of CDRs (one wielding a nearly hour-long live excursion into “Sister Ray”), a limited edition 4-song 12-inch of Gordon Lightfoot covers, and splits with Hush Arbors and Pontiak; the group’s latest was 2013’s Coming Out of the Fog.
Spence was responsible for all the instrumentation on his LP, the end result reportedly intended as a demo. Difficult to find almost immediately after release and subsequently impossible to locate prior to CD reissue, Oar is a “lost” record in a dual sense, capturing a damaged psyche attempting to steady the bow through creativity. Here in the Deep is a considerably brighter affair that further differs in the addition of pianist Hans Chew and locals Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Walker Teret of Lower Dens (a notable component in Arbouretum), and drummer/ percussionist Mike Kuhl.
Teret and Kuhl have played in Television Hill with Heumann, whose credits include a collaboration with Lungfish’s Nathan Bell in Human Bell and backup spots for Matt Sweeney, Cass McCombs, Will Oldham’s Bonnie “Prince” Billy band, and Ned Oldham’s outfit Anomoanon; to complete an Oldham hat-trick, brother Paul assisted in the recording of Arbouretum’s sophomore alum Rites of Uncovering.
As said, Here in the Deep registers as a departure, but it’s not entirely disconnected from Arbouretum; similarities can be ascertained at least as far back as Rites of Uncovering’s “The Rise.” The start does mildly recall the psych-tinged cyclical motions of Heumann’s recently reactivated main gig, though “Switchback” wastes no time cohering into a Neil Young-descended nugget with sharp guitar and vocal harmonies seamlessly lending undertones of pop to the dusty Western ambiance. And while it reaches four minutes, the contents are trim, disciplined and ultimately quite catchy.
The unlabored likeness to Will Oldham’s work remains, this attribute intensified in Heumann’s voice during “Cloud Mind.” Nimble fingerpicking enhances the gentle folky atmosphere, the drumming provides weight and stabs of distortion add bite; alongside the general gliding feel, the most distinctive facet is the emergence of ‘70s vintage synth tones.
They frankly bring ELP to mind, though there’s nothing proggy going on here. To the contrary, “Ides of Summer” is a vibrant blend of folk, pop and a hint of country, Heumann’s singing a particular highlight, and if Here in the Deep had come out on Warner Reprise in the early ‘70s, this cut would’ve been pulled for the single with the big hole and the steamboat on it. And yet it’s far from rigidly retro; ‘80s college rock is just as applicable.
With its interwoven guitar reverberations, the concise instrumental “Morning Remnants” delivers a pretty dose of psychedelia segueing into moodier piano-based environs. It gives way to the title track, and if the majority of Heumann’s effort can be easily traced back to the ‘70s, “Here in the Deep”’s organ tone points to Yo La Tengo circa Painful as the melancholy drift suggests Mazzy Star and late ‘80s Flying Nun; near the end, Heumann’s soloing even briefly conjured Today-era Galaxie 500.
A version of the traditional murder ballad “Greenwood Side” (waxed by Shirley Collins, Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Ian & Sylvia, Kaleidoscope, Steeleye Span, their singer Maddy Prior and Alasdair Roberts amongst others) commences the Brit folk-rock segment of the program (Heumann’s been occasionally compared, and not inaptly, to Richard Thompson). It’s a redirection strengthened by the vocal duet with Wasner and unstrained Irishness as the fingerpicked instrumental “Leaves Underfoot” maintains the folky angle; it’s likely to please the trousers off fans of Jansch.
By extension, the hand drumming at the beginning of the spiritually inclined “Holly King on a Hill” had me thinking of Pentangle, but as Heumann starts to sing the impression shifted to Daniel Higgs; tendrils of backwards guitar widen the appeal. Few of the entries here exceed the four-minute mark, but “Ends of the Earth” lengthens to over seven as its guitar-rocking climate grows from laidback to robust. The album is capped with the tidy synth wiggle of “By Jove.”
Oar was a left-field apex made directly before a career went down the tubes. Here in the Deep isn’t as strong but it bodes well for additional volumes either solo or with Arbouretum; well produced by his labelmate Parish, the exploration of trad and classic ideas derives from a solid foundation. Listeners into Oldham, D. Charles Speer and the Helix, Chris Forsyth, and Cian Nugent should investigate the work of Dave Heumann.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
