Face The Music

A wonderful introduction to the exquisite melancholy of Tom Brosseau, Empty Houses are Lonely is a collection of this crooner's finest work to date.

There's something so special about Brosseau's voice. In one moment, this shimmering, plaintive, and wavering cry is his and his alone. It is otherworldly. You've never heard anything quite like it. In the next, it belongs to everyone — a child searching for comfort and home. It is universal. You could sing these songs yourself.

Brosseau is an American poet and traveler along the lines of Walt Whitman, Richard Brautigan, Johnny Cash, and John Fahey. He tells stories with precision and passion. For instance, in "How to Grow a Woman from the Ground," he sings:

The night was a chalkboard with a fingernail moon
And the fish ain't dead yet, but they will be pretty soon
Oh, it's the same kind of feeling in an old folks' home
Even though you love them, you can't wait for them to go

While the songs themselves — simple compositions of softly strummed folk guitar, gentle waltzes, finger-plucked ballads sometimes bolstered by absolutely heart-wrenching harmonica — often seem covered in tears, the listener is not simply swept by sadness, but rewarded with utter beauty.

Find streaming audio of Empty Houses at FatCat Records.