The fifth outing for
Mark Kozelek under the
Sun Kil Moon moniker follows in the quiet footsteps of 2010's excellent
Admiral Fell Promises. Looser and less polished than its predecessor,
Among the Leaves finds
Kozelek in a mercilessly nostalgic mood, especially on the first three tracks, which play out like a post-rock & roll Lothario trilogy, looking back on a life spent in transit, full of missed connections ("I Know It's Pathetic But That Was the Greatest Night of My Life ") and disparate places ("Sunshine in Chicago") that trigger powerful emotional cues ("Moderately Talented Yet Attractive Young Woman vs. the Exceptionally Talented Yet Not so Attractive Middle Aged Man") that grow dimmer with each year.
Among the Leaves retains
AFP's strict adherence to the use of nylon-string guitar as its foundation, though
Kozelek isn’t opposed to fleshing out the occasional song with drums, bass, and other subtle textures, as evidenced by the easy
Velvet Underground shimmy of the title cut and the dense, brooding "Kingfish," the latter of which finds the former
Red House Painter picking at a distorted electric with the same deftness he applies to his beloved acoustic. ~ James Christopher Monger