3 Stars out of 4 Review by LarryG 3 Stars out of 4 Joe Henry is a unique, interesting artist. The songs were moody, slow percussive pieces with great grooves and lyrics filled with ambivalence. Ohio Air Show Place Crash was based on the image of the moment before the crash, slowly digging deeper and deeper into the groove.
Fuse is filled with more hypnotic, carefully constructed songs.
It starts well with Monkey, Henry's tale of patiently waiting and serving his love's memory until she comes back. Henry's raspy, strangled sounding vocals serve his tales of fascination with the dark side and finding beauty in strange places. Fuse often has a dreamy feeling which is best appreciated if you can get into the right trippy mood. Sometimes Henry's understated, poker face delivery can be a little too much. The self satisfied account of his needs is less interesting than the fascinated, voyeuristic tales of Trampoline.