Walk Around the Moon
creeps into view, its titular opening track slithering by on a blues riff
Dave Matthews
adorns with a falsetto that feels familiar yet weathered. Similarly, the groove
Dave Matthews Band
lays doesn't quite follow a straight line -- drummer
Carter Beauford
and bassist
Stefan Lessard
emphasize the places where the group strays from a well-trod path. Nearly three decades into their career, the three remaining founding members of the
are seasoned pros who understand that deviations from the norm are meaningful and that's the key to
, the group's tenth album. Like many 2023 albums, it was born in part from pandemic isolation, a period of reflection where
Matthews
managed to avoid the melancholy that hung over him during the early years of the 2000s. Some of the brighter outlook of
can be attributed to the inclusion of deliberate jolts of positivity on the album yet those moments aren't as exuberant as prime '90s
DMB
, all due to the absence of the late
LeRoi Moore
and violinist
Boyd Tinsley
. Where
made sure to replace
Moore
with another horn player,
Tinsley
's vacancy was filled by keyboard player
Buddy Strong
, a decision that helps shift the band's core sound to something sinewy and rhythmic. While
has moments that float in the ether, such as the airless "Something to Tell My Baby" and the sweet denouement "Singing from the Windows," most of the album carries a definite rhythmic punch, a weight that's evident even in softer numbers like "The Ocean and the Butterfly" and "Monsters." A similar sense of gravel has carried over to
' voice, an evolution that softens and deepens his phrasing eccentricities, another element of earthiness that gives
a sense of weight and immediacy that's rare in the
catalog. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine