Eddie Owen Presents Alice Peacock + Peter Mulvey

Lived-in. That’s how Alice Peacock’s new album feels. “When we were recording the strings, one of the musicians said to me, ‘This record feels like an old shirt – familiar and comfortable,’” she says.

Alice was deeply touched by the remark. In fact, she and producer Andrew Williams were striving to make a classic-sounding record. Warm as faded flannel, Who I Am recalls the golden age of singer-songwriter pop (the album’s cover was even shot by legendary rock photographer Henry Diltz). It is impeccably crafted, but what’s most affecting is how easy and organic it feels, how directly Alice’s voice connects with the listener.

SILVER LADDER is an auditory shot in the arm from veteran touring songwriter Peter Mulvey. Produced by the indomitable Chuck Prophet, it is a lean, muscular collection of tightly constructed songs, leavening Mulvey’s tendency toward ruminative and yearning acoustic songs with a dose of sharp-witted, punchy rock and roll.

After a turbulent stretch in his personal life left him at sea, Mulvey decided to write his way out of it: “I’ve been through it. I bet you have too,” he said, “but there are times in life when you turn a corner and suddenly everything is simple: let’s make some songs, people! Let’s play!” Committing to writing one song a week relieved him of the precious, self-involved artist’s question, What Do I Have To Say? The songs came flooding out over the weeks and months, and within a year he had more than enough for a new record.

Reaching out to Chuck Prophet was meant to continue shaking himself loose. The two had met only once, at a gig. After Prophet agreed to produce, Peter flew to Los Angeles to meet the band of complete strangers Chuck had assembled, and within hours they were tracking tunes. David Kemper, veteran of five years on the road and in the studio with Bob Dylan, made up the rhythm section with Tom Freund (Ben Harper) on upright bass. Chuck and his Mission Express guitarist James DePrato provided the electric guitar fireworks, and Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek) supplied touches of harmony vocal and violin. Aidan Hawken (Highwater Rising, The Quiet Kind) provided textures unheard on Mulvey’s past fifteen records: celeste, Chamberlin, Mellotron. The great East Coast torch singer Anita Suhanin lent her voice to a heartbreaking duet.

From its first track, SILVER LADDER brims with confidence and grit. From the unapologetic rock of “Sympathies” to the starkly beautiful “What Else Was It?”, from the conspiratorial swagger of “Lies You Forgot You Told” to the joyous release of “Back in the Wind”, SILVER LADDER is the work of an artist in his prime. After nine sharp songs, the record ends with a vigorous left turn: the swampy groove of “Copenhagen Airport” at first seems to be an instrumental, until its simple two-line lyric delivers a universal jolt of recognition. Then vertiginous sweep of “If You Shoot at a King You Must Kill Him” is offset by the concise, piercing coda, “Landfall”.

SILVER LADDER is an artistic rebirth for Mulvey, the work of an artist who has discovered his inner rock-and-roller, a man who has been through the eye of the needle and come through it with a haul of songs to spark and encourage his fellow humans.