Genre: Neofolk/Blues/Country/Rock ‘n Roll
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Van Records
Year: 2016
TJ Cowgill returns with his latest meditation, once again following the steps of the great Nick Cave and this time handling the theme of sexuality that couldn’t be more obvious with the title ‘Sex’. Of course we are talking about sexuality in its spiritual form and with the familiar sounds of gothic Americana folk rock ‘n’ roll.
I really couldn’t hold my excitement for this brand new album of his – and I mean a day old new – I had to write this review as soon as the album came to light. Light is really a funny word to use when it comes to this album, unless we are talking about the luciferian light that the king has been spreading to the world since the day he sat at his throne. ‘Sex’ is dark, I think it is King Dude’s darkest, most carnal and creepiest album yet. Everything is heightened in this album, much more rock ‘n’ roll than its predecessor, you can even hear punk elements right there amongst the moody atmosphere, well, sex is sensual and fun as well.
‘Sex’ consists of eleven tracks following the tradition of unexpected divination through the good lord Lucifer. The King challenges the listener to explore and let loose his own sexually charged inner thoughts. From the introductory song ‘Holy Christos’, that starts with a female singing of the Easter psalm of the Orthodox Church in Greek, you can tell that this is going to be a favorite, full of strong guitars and you can imagine yourself listening to the song in some creepy little chapel in the middle of nowhere. ‘Who Taught You How to Love’ is not a love song, it is a bestial anthem showing us the way that this album is going to get darker and even kinkier. ‘I Wanna Die at 69’ smells of aged American bourbon ready to burst in your mouth. ‘Sex Dungeon(USA)’ is the track that gives the album this crust/punk element that we were talking about earlier and one of the best songs of this album. I think ‘The Girls’ is also a song that spoke to me right away as David Bowie’s ghost lingers, while King Dude’s distorted voice reminds us how much we miss him. Finally, ‘Shine Your Light’ is the perfect way to close this exceptional new album, a very Nick Cave song with the piano in the background giving a very melancholic farewell mood.
This album, although a typical King Dude album, is so varicolored in so many ways that you want to listen to it again and again to soak all the diverse sounds out of it. King Dude returned gloriously and with a new perspective of satanic, depressive and kinky sounds.
5/6