Albums by this artist

Sleeping On Roads (2002)

Neil Halstead

Sleeping On Roads

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» LILY KANE | STAFF WRITER

Neil Halstead Sleeping On Roads 4AD, 2002 RiYL: Mojave 3, Lambchop, Nick Drake

A gentle tremble of an album, Sleeping On Roads, the first solo LP from Mojave 3's Neil Halstead, is one of those musical anodynes that is so delicate and vulnerable -- yet abstains completely from clichéd pathos -- that you put it on when you're feeling forlorn and looking for the melody of empathy. Crackles and hums seep through his vocals, giving the impression that the whole thing was recorded very late at night at a very low volume and they sacrificed a clean sound so that we could actually even hear the thing. This, of course, only adds to the album's intimate appeal.

It took me three weeks to actually get through the entire album, because I would hear a song and decide that this was the best unrequited love song ever, and listen to it over and over. Then I would force myself to progress further into the album, only to latch onto the next track and play it until I could hear it in my sleep. In this fashion, I obsessed over "Two Stones In My Pocket," followed by "Hi-Lo And Inbetween," followed by "Martha's Mantra (For The Pain)."

I can listen to the entire sequence now, but I still like to hear "Hi-Lo." twice before moving on because of the killer of an opening line: "One day it just snowed, I guess, and they closed the roads into your heart." The inspired songwriting is the star of the album, especially on Dylan-esque narrative ramblings like "Martha's Mantra" and on the title track. The instrumentation is lovely, but again, this is a singer-songwriter album, not a group effort, so the focus is clearly on the lyrics and vocal delivery.

LILY KANE |