Mike Kinsella grows into his masterpiece.

Owen - At Home With Owen
Posted by Tim Karan on 01-Mar-07 @ 12:54 PM

[5/5] He comes from one of Midwestern emo's strongest family trees (Cap'n Jazz, Joan Of Arc, American Football, Owls), but Mike Kinsella's had an equally strong solo run under the Owen moniker. Ironically, with his fourth solo album, Kinsella shelves two of Owen's defining traits-bedroom recording values; beautiful post-folk juxtaposed with ugly lyrics about girls-and makes his masterpiece in the process. With the self-effacing lyrics in At Home With Owen's opener, "Bad News," Kinsella proves he's a changed man; but when the songs embrace love ("A Bird In Hand") and wrestle with mortality ("One Of These Days"), it's clear just how much so. The playing is just as striking, with Kinsella embracing bigger studios while retaining his trademark intimacy. Leading the songs on vocals, guitar and drums, he casts idiosyncratic finger-picking against shuffling percussion in "Windows And Doorways" and gets warm backup from violinist Kristina Dutton in "Use Your Words" and a nuanced take on the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." Ironically again, that cover shows how much Kinsella has matured: When you consider that he's singing lines originally written for a woman, At Home With Owen becomes the first empathetic album he's ever made. (POLYVINYL) Aaron Burgess

Rocks Like: Nick Drake's Bryter Layter • Alexi Murdoch's Time Without Consequence • Iron & Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days


Official Website: http://www.polyvinylrecords.com