News Archives: 2021
JACKSON BROWNE PROVES HE HAS PLENTY LEFT IN THE TANK ON ‘DOWNHILL FROM EVERYWHERE’
July 27, 2021
By Michael Elliott / 22 July 2021
https://www.popmatters.com/jackson-browne-downhill-from-everywhere
Jackson Browne’s songs have always conveyed a strong will to press ahead against the odds, but doing so with eyes wide open. Even as a teen, when he wrote the world-weary “These Days”, he was accepting a painful truth while concealing a steely yet unspoken resolve. Throughout his career, melancholy and reflection have mixed with resilience and determination in some of his most lasting work, from “The Pretender” and “Running on Empty” to “I’m Alive”. Now, on Downhill From Everywhere, his first full album of new material since 2014’s Standing in the Breach, Browne stays in his – and our – comfort zone for much of the album while still finding new avenues to explore. To be sure, those new avenues never take us too far from the neighborhoods we’re used to. The houses are similar, although the trees and landscaping may appear a bit more exotic at times.
Any Jackson Browne fan will find much to love with the album’s opening sequence. “Still Looking For Something” acts as an apropos opener, setting the course for yet another journey of restless searching for that elusive love of his life, yet even if all he “finds is freedom, it’s all right”. The first single, “My Cleveland Heart” is inspired by a trip Browne took to the city in the song’s title and discovered where they make artificial hearts. The buoyant lap steel of the ubiquitous Greg Leisz propels the track into very familiar but still exciting territory. To paraphrase Lucy Van Pelt, of all the Jackson Browne songs on the new album, it’s the Jackson Brownest.
A few tracks on Downhill From Everywhere have appeared elsewhere, but in the case of “The Dreamer”, in a slightly different form. Originally released as a single in 2017 and featuring Los Cenzontles, a group he met through Linda Ronstadt, “The Dreamer” was co-written by Browne with Eugene Rodriguez and the legendary Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo. The version here retains the spirit of the earlier recording while slowing it slightly and adding a touch more Los Angeles singer-songwriter seasoning to the mix.
“A Human Touch” comes from the 2019 documentary 5B and is a duet with Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Leslie Mendelson. It deftly reminds us of the need for connection, especially considering the events of the past year and a half. Yet another, “Love Is Love”, originally appeared on the benefit album from Artists for Peace and Justice, Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit, Vol. 1, in 2020. Originally written in 2016 with David Belle, the song is another of Browne’s hope-and-resilience-in-the-face-of-unspeakable-obstacles songs. Its breezy melody and feather-light groove practically leap from the speakers with the joy and promise of a better day to come.
Browne’s social activism has not slowed in the slightest over the years, evidenced by the songs already mentioned, as well as the title track. “Downhill From Everywhere” is an indictment on us and basically how carelessly we’re polluting all of our oceans, powered by, as much of the album, the guitars of Leisz and Val McCallum, and helped along by the call-and-response vocals of Browne and keyboardist Jeff Young.
The album closes with two lengthy studies on human behavior. “A Little Too Soon to Say” perfectly encapsulates our thoughts and feelings as we cautiously re-enter society, attempting to return to a somewhat normal life. Meanwhile, the beautiful “A Song For Barcelona” takes us on yet another journey to a place whose streets, as Browne sings, “gave me refuge in my escape from rock and roll”.
Downhill From Everywhere shines a light on the darkened corners of our not-so better nature in places, but it also promises that if we hold on to each other, and love, it’ll be all right, even if it is a little too soon to say for certain.
RATING 8
Read MoreJackson Browne – Downhill From Everywhere
July 27, 2021
By Hal Horowitz, July 22, 2021
https://holler.country/reviews/album-review/jackson-browne-downhill-from-everywhere-album-review
Without looking at a recent photo of Jackson Browne, it’s easy to mistake this new album – the first in six years – for one recorded during his 70s/80s prime. Browne’s voice hasn’t aged a day since that era, and musically, this late-in-life entry to a stunning near five-decade catalog (his debut appeared in 1972) is as warm, lyrically articulate and musically compelling as any he has recorded.
Those who have followed Browne know he has been politically outspoken from his late 70s No Nukes days to the present. The trick has been to incorporate that socio-political stance into folk-rock songs which resonate musically as well. That has been a tougher balance for him to maintain. But on this, his 15th set of originals, he nails a successful middle ground.
Opener ‘Still Looking for Something’ sets the tone by its title alone. “Don’t know that I’ll find it… If all I find is freedom, it’s alright,” he sings with a knowing nod to both his advancing age and extensive career. Early single ‘My Cleveland Heart’ rocks out with a tempo similar to earlier work like ‘Boulevard’ or ‘For a Dancer’ as Greg Leisz’s lap steel fills the void left by David Lindley’s absence. Lyrics of “I’ve been walkin’ that broken line between/The way life is and the way it seems”, reexamine classic Browne territory, questioning his place in society as he did in The Pretender. And doing it with cowbell, reviving that much maligned 70s artefact for added punch.
Conceptually, Browne stays true to his activist heart in material that conveys messages without knocking the listener over the head with them. On ‘The Dreamer’, he revisits the Latin/Mexican rhythms he has often returned to with fluttering Spanish guitar lines and lyrics about an immigrant being sent back to Mexico, concluding, “And the walls that we’ve built between us /Keep us prisoners of our fear”, another common Browne theme.
‘Until Justice Is Real’ rocks with Leisz’s slide pushing the attack on a tune that asks us “What is democracy? What is the deal?”. The title track collects about a dozen current issues in its questioning of where the US is going by name checking the GOP, NRA, the US Senate, Columbine and others with soulful backing vocals echoing his yearning, still somewhat boyish yet weathered voice.
The exquisite ‘Human Touch’ finds singer Leslie Mendelson trading lead vocals with Browne, harmonizing for one of the collection’s most moving and heartfelt performances. Leisz’s lap steel provides weeping counterpoint as the duo sings “Everybody gets lonely…Reaching out for some connection…”. It’s one of Browne’s finest ballads, up there with ‘Call It a Loan’ or ‘In the Shape of a Heart.’ And that’s saying plenty.
The closing epic eight-minute ‘A Song for Barcelona’ that credits five co-writers along with Browne, returns to the frisky Latin lope, paying earnest tribute to “ …the streets that gave me refuge/In my escape from rock and roll” while accompanying himself on nylon string guitar.
As producer, Browne confidently controls the sound. He allows the sturdy band of veterans such as bassist Bob Glaub to gel with his expressive singing and lyrics on songs that feel fresher, more alive and socially relevant than you’d expect from any performer his age or younger.
It’s a stirring, even inspirational release and hopefully we won’t have to wait another six years for its follow-up.
8.5/10
Read MoreJackson Browne Confronts the Modern World on ‘Downhill From Everywhere’
July 27, 2021
Henry Carrigan POSTED ON JULY 22, 2021
When he was 15, Jackson Browne wrote the lines “don’t confront me with my failures / I have not forgotten them” in for a song called “These Days,” which Nico recorded, and which he released later on his 1973 album, For Everyman. “These Days” illustrates Browne’s gift for capturing fear, uncertainty, and resilience and hope.
Browne recorded Downhill From Everywhere, his first album in six years, with his core band: guitarists Greg Leisz and Val McCallum, bassist Bob Glaub, keyboardist Jeff Young, and drummer Mauricio Lewak; other contributing musicians include drummer Russ Kunkel, guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Steve McEwan and Leslie Mendelson — who co-wrote “The Human Touch” with Browne — and background vocalists Chavonne Stewart, Alethea Mills, and DeAnte Duckett.
The album’s bouncy title track, reminiscent of “Running on Empty,” mimics the slipping, skidding, out-of-control slide into social chaos and natural catastrophe that’s the result of an emphasis on human freedom gone perversely wrong: In a world where politicians and preachers proclaim that everyone has rights, nobody does. It’s “downhill from the NRA / Downhill from ICE / And your huddled yearning masses yearning to be free,” Browne sings. He also effectively reminds us that since the oceans are downhill from landmasses, we’ve pushed our trash down those hills, and it’s now killing the oceans: “Do you think of the ocean as yours? / Because you need the ocean to breathe / Every second breath you take is coming from the sea / And we don’t really know, because we don’t really see / Do you think of the ocean as yours? / Do you think about it at all?”
In a light-filled, gorgeous canticle of hope, Browne and Eugene Rodriguez’s “The Dreamer” powerfully reveals the motivations for the darkness that covers our culture these days: “We don’t see half the people around us / But we imagine enemies who surround us / And the walls that we’ve built between us / Keep us prisoners of our fears.” Performed by Browne, Los Cenzontles and David Hidalgo, and sung in English and Spanish, the song opens with a cascading harp in a tune reminiscent of Browne’s “Linda Paloma.”
Ringing guitars frame Browne’s earnest hope that our lives will be filled with and peace, but he admits “It’s Still Too Soon to Say.” With each version of the song’s refrain, he grows more hopeful, though, and changes the final two lines of the refrain from “but whether everything will be alright” and “I’ve got to think it’s going to be alright” to “I want to think it’s going to be alright” in the third and final refrain. A tongue-in-cheek rocker, “Cleveland Heart,” nodding to the work of the Cleveland Clinic in pioneering artificial hearts, rides over screaming steel and propulsive drums, pondering the freedom of an artificial heart that “never breaks and never aches,” while the bright, jaunty “Still Looking for Something” conveys the singer’s hopeful restlessness: “though I’m hoping for something I can hold up to the light / Don’t know that I’ll find it, or the soulful smile behind it / If all I find is freedom, it’s alright.”
Downhill From Everywhere confirms Browne’s role as visionary troubadour, and he continues the plumb the depths of the human heart, looking into its dark corners and bright chambers.
After the Deluge: An Unofficial Jackson Browne Podcast
July 27, 2021
A deep dive through the entire Jackson Browne discography starting with his first five albums, which I believe represent one of the best five-album runs by any artist ever. Each episode is built upon an interview with a different musician or writer close to Jackson Browne’s music. Follow host, Justin Cox, at https://twitter.com/routinelayup
This show is part of Pantheon Podcasts.
https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/jacksonbrowne?selected=PAN4965167661
Read MoreJackson Browne on PBS News Hour
July 26, 2021
“It’s been 50 years since Jackson Browne recorded “Doctor My Eyes,” his first hit in which the world’s troubles have caused the singer’s tear ducts to run dry. Fifteen albums and eight Grammy nominations later, he’s now out with his first new album in seven years. NewsHour Weekend’s Tom Casciato talked with Browne in Los Angeles about his new work, and the themes and subjects he’s returned to often in his songs.”
Watch the full piece on PBS now.
Read MoreJackson Browne Announces “Evening With” tour dates for September
June 21, 2021
Jackson Browne announces an “Evening With” tour this September with his full band. The run of shows support his new album Downhill From Everywhere, available worldwide on July 23.
The Lyte Pre-registration begins Wednesday, June 23 at 10 AM local time. Click here to pre-register.
The JacksonBrowne.com presales begin Thursday, June 24 at 10 AM local time.
For more information, see the tour chart here.
Read MoreWatch Jackson Browne Perform New Single “My Cleveland Heart” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
June 11, 2021
Last night, Jackson Browne performed his new single “My Cleveland Heart” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Watch Jackson Browne perform “My Cleveland Heart” on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Listen to Jackson on WTF with Marc Maron
Jackson also guested on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron podcast where they discussed the new album, his history with Nico and the Velvet Underground, touring with James Taylor, the Pacific Garbage Patch, and more.
Read MoreThursday, June 10: Jackson on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
June 11, 2021
Jackson is the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, June 10. Check your local listings for channel information in your area.
Read MoreJackson Browne on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast
June 10, 2021
Jackson’s episode on WTF with Marc Maron is now live! Listen here.
Read MoreJackson Browne Partners with Lyte and Launches New Fan Priority Reservations for Upcoming Tours
June 2, 2021
Starting today, fans can place reservations to be first in line for tickets to Jackson Browne’s next headlining tour via jacksonbrowne.com.
Powered by Lyte’s Priority Reservations, fans can make a reservation for a city near them for dates to be announced soon. Once a date and venue are locked in, fans will be notified and receive first access to the best available tickets when they go on sale. If fans don’t see their city listed, fans can request their city to show where they’d like to see Jackson Browne play.
The tour will support his new album, Downhill From Everywhere, available worldwide on July 23 via Inside Recordings. Reservations can be placed HERE.
Jackson Browne will be on tour this summer and fall with James Taylor. Additional Jackson Browne dates will be announced soon. For more information, please visit www.jacksonbrowne.com.
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