The steady, streamlined
Easy Tiger was a sure sign that
Ryan Adams was attempting to straighten up and play the game, but its quickly released EP follow-up,
Follow the Lights, takes this self-conscious sobriety to a whole different level, as it finds
Adams writing two songs for the ABC drama October Road, then rearranging three of his own songs to fit the same hazy, mellow vibe of his new tunes, adding the previously unreleased "Blue Hotel" and a cover of
Alice in Chains' "Down in a Hole" to the mix. This isn't so much a sell-out as yet another one of
Adams' savvy genre exercises -- the only difference is, here he's gunning for the Grey's Anatomy adult-alternative crossover market instead of crafting a tribute to
the Smiths or
Grateful Dead.
Adams pulls it off, possibly because the abbreviated length of the EP is just enough time for him to dwell in one place without being bored, but also because the lazy, low-key vibe emphasizes the empathy between him and his excellent backing band the Cardinals, who add warmth and a ragged humanity to
Adams' tunes. Indeed, the dullest moment here is "If I Am a Stranger," where the Cardinals recede to the background, but the rest of the record places the band on equal footing with
Adams, giving this a gently ramshackle appeal not all that dissimilar to either
the Dead or
the Band. The Cardinals help sell the new songs and a less insistent, strident take on "This Is It," but where they really shine is on that wonderful reinvention of "Down in a Hole," turning
AIC's dirge into heart-on-the-sleeve country-rock that is arguably
Adams' best single recording in recent memory. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine