ALBUM REVIEW: Chris Eckman – Where the Spirit Rests

Glitterhouse

Released: 04.06.21

For the near-decade since his last solo album, former Walkabouts frontman Chris Eckman has been concentrating on running the mighty Glitterbeat label from his Ljubljana home and working with other artists, but a combination of personal strife and the pandemic led him to picking up his guitar again, recording in a castle near his home and adding a small group of carefully chosen collaborators to his songs.

The mood throughout is mostly sombre and reflective (and occasionally angry), Eckman’s rich, weathered voice adding real gravitas to the songs, and the additional instrumentation is used subtly and sparingly (Chuck Johnson’s steel on This Curving Track is gorgeous). If you’re a fan of introspective, sparse country a la Van Zandt (or, obviously, The Walkabouts), you’re going to love this.