Greg Ashley - Another Generation of Slaves (2014)

Greg Ashley (lysergic psych band THE MIRRORS, & highly influential quartet THE GRIS GRIS) is no stranger to recording. If his group output wasn't enough, Ashley has peppered multiple solo albums in between all of these releases tracing along apath that veers to & fro from heady psychedelic freakouts to sensitive, folky tune-smithing. This is a bold step off that acid-soaked artery, the 9 tunes herein are Ashley's most directly poetic suite of songs both melodically & lyrically. Recorded in 2013 with a cadre of jazz musicians, the malleability of his players belies dizzying results, allowing Ashley to focus on communicating the feeling of the tunes in addition to playing them. Lyrically, Ashley has never been one to mince words, but the songs are almost joyously direct.