Patterson Hood: Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance

This solo record from Drive-By Truckers founder Patterson Hood is by no means as full tilt as your standard Drive-By Truckers stash. Tipping its hat towards a more old-fashioned kind of country music, these are story songs of damaged people, their lives marred by having made the wrong matches and taken the wrong paths through places we might just recognise as Drinkville and Adultery Crossing. Over a series of country shuffles, Hood effectively channels the loneliness of the musician who spends his life on tour. The title track is especially moody and atmospheric, but all told, it is a very fine piece of work indeed.