Steve Horowitz: The video has much to offer: the acting, the settings, the cinematography, etc., are all compelling. Country noir, crime and poverty. The music serves the narrative well and captures what it feels like to be trapped by life and the relief of the open road. [8/10]
Jedd Beaudoin: Damien! His sense of how to orchestrate a tune is excellent and that spacey quality to the vocals. I don’t even care what the actual lyrics are but they are, of course, pretty great. Actually, he could sing the bad qualities of Aspartame from a meme and it’d be cool. [8/10]
Dustin Ragucos: Damien Jurado’s “Exit 353” is the compressing of a big city attitude into a small town. Like its title suggests, the track is the sightline of an escape, one so forward in motion that police lights won’t stop its conductor. Buzzing lines become the traffic passed by, while the words of loneliness are things that seek retribution. Here’s hoping that Jurado’s forthcoming effort will be a sonic and vocal journey a la Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs. [7/10]
Damien Jurado’s new album, Visions of Us on the Land, releases 18 March 2016.
SCORE: 7.66