When I'm Called

After nearly a decade with eclectic indie Paradise of Bachelors, Durham-based folksinger Jake Xerxes Fussell moves to another Southern-rooted label, Mississippis Fat Possum Records. His fifth LP, When Im Called, reunites him with James Elkington, the U.K-born Chicagoan who produced his previous effort, 2022s marvelous Good and Green Again. Of all his collaborators so far, Elkington might be the most sympathetic, gently urging him into richer sonic pastures while nurturing the attributes that have made Fussell one of the 21st centurys greatest folk interpreters. At first blush, When Im Called bears all the hallmarks of a classic Fussell release: obscure American folk songs, an endearingly laid-back attitude, and that amiable rumbling baritone. But its also a maturation of the process he began back on his 2015 debut. While Fussell may look to traditional material, he is by no means a traditionalist. His craft has always been the evolution and elevation of his source material. Take for example the albums title track, which is adapted from a found scrap of paper bearing a childs list of classroom indiscretions. "I will answer when Im called, I will not breakdance in the hall, I will not laugh when the teacher calls my name," drawls Fussell, nearly two-and-a-half minutes into an ambling guitar groove. Having spent so much of his career breathing new life into arcane folk songs, its almost a thrill to hear him mention something as relatively contemporary as breakdancing, or in the case of the albums opener, Andy Warhol. So much of his music has been so rooted in the far-distant past that even the late 20th century seems jarringly recent. And yet "When Im Called" and "Andy" are each delivered with the same timelessness as traditional cuts like "Leaving Here, Dont Know Where Im Going" and the classic sea shanty "Gone to Hilo." As on each of Fussells albums, he moves the songs into his own special, nuanced space, creating a vibe that is unmistakably his own. This sense of personality feels increasingly rare in folk music which often errs in either self-congratulatory retro-ism or indulgent innovation. In avoiding many of the traditional avenues to authenticity, he achieves it naturally. ~ Timothy Monger