Eliza Gilkyson/Home/Realiza Records
Four out of Five Stars
There are few artists that make music as consistently affecting as Eliza Gilkyson. She’s proven that time and time again over the course of a more than 50-year career encompassing more than two dozen albums, all the while maintaining an emotional bond with her listeners that’s never frayed or unwavering.
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Her new album, Home, provides definitive proof of that fact, courtesy of songs that deal with both the aspirations and uncertainties faced by so many in this era when trouble and turmoil seem to consistently have the upper hand. Well I never believed in evil, Never believed in the heavenly light, Til I saw first hand what’s been done by man, she swears on a particularly tangled tune called “Safety Zone,” a song that effectively sums up her stance.
She gets a top-notch assist from a host of famous friends — her brother Tony Gilkyson from the band X, Van Dyke Parks, Robert Earl Keen, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Ray Bonneville are just a few of the folks that lend all-star accompaniment, and sometimes share the singing on a string of duets. Yet, it’s Gilkyson herself who sets the tone and temperament here courtesy of such tender tapestries afforded by songs such as “Sparrow,” “True North,” “How Deep,” “Witness,” and, in fact, the majority of songs that grace this alluring LP.
While Gilkyson consistently questions those echoes of everyday encounters, she manages to offer an uplifting perspective that never pales under the pall of uncertainty. That in itself makes Home a remarkably calming encounter, one that allows comfort and assurance to prevail even in the most uncertain circumstance.
Ultimately, it’s that quiet caress that prevails throughout Home, providing a sense of solace that makes this album such a tender respite. A set of songs imbued with both passion and purpose, Home is clearly the place where the heart resides.
Photo Credit: Robert Jensen / Courtesy Propeller Publicity
