The follow-up to 2015's crowd-funded,
Mark Hallman
-produced
Ode to Thinking
,
Sultans
sees the British-born, New York-based singer/songwriter eschew the folksy Americana leanings of past outings for something a bit more Beatlesque. In a nod to
Sgt. Pepper's
Long
bookends the ten-song set with two iterations of the title track; a slow building, paisley-pop confection with hints of Eastern mysticism and a very "I Am the Walrus"-inspired gait.
has been up front about the album's Fab Four connection, citing his formative years spent in rural Southwest England as an emotional and cultural through-line, but there are still shades of
Leonard Cohen
and
Bob Dylan
to be found behind all of the studio experimentation and skiffle beats -- the soulful "Love" hews closest to the big-hearted country-folk of past outings. Some of the time
comes off as a gruffer and more muscular
M. Ward
, especially on the fuzzed-out "Serpentine" and "Mazarati," but the majority of
has its feet firmly planted in the 1960s. Caught somewhere between swirling,
Roy Orbison
Brill Building pop ("Goodbye") and bluesy,
Abbey Road
-inspired guitar rock ("Nautical"),
can feel a bit apocryphal, but
and producer and frequent collaborator
Jack Dawson
inject the project with enough character that even at its most self-referential, it feels like the product of loving parents. ~ James Christopher Monger