Shan @ 3hive
In his bio, J. Tillman’s music is described as “reminiscent of the southern-gothic writings of Flannery O'Connor and the music of Nick Drake and Pete Seeger." Now, my mother-in-law, aside from being the quickest wit in the South and a darn fine cook (her secret: butter, lots and lots of butter), is a bit of a Flannery O’ Connor expert. And in her riveting (I’m being serious here) talks and my own reading of O’Connor, I’d have to say that the beauty of Flannery’s words are in their buoyancy, their ability to turn cruel and unusual characters into tragicomic heroes. Not that J. Tillman doesn’t show potential for that kind of greatness, but if we’re going with Southern literary archetypes, the somber tone Tillman sets is much closer to James Agee, who painted profoundly delicate pictures of heartbreak. Tillman does, however, get it right with comparisons to Drake and Seeger. I’d throw in Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Iron & Wine. The whistling on “My Waking Days” is particularly haunting.



Kaleb @ sctas
Turn off the lights, make sure no appliances are running (except the player that is twirling this gem) and advise your flatmates to spare you at least a half-hour before interrupting you. This is to allow your soul the comfortable margin needed to absorb the hushed spirit that J. Tillman's "I Will Return" does rightfully possess.

A delicate whisper of a voice is that of Josh Tillman, accompanied mostly by only his gentle acoustic and oft a distant piano (on "cecile, my love") or the equally magnificent accompanying cello, thanks to Phil Peterson (on "cecile.. " as well as opener "Lilac Hem"). This is the soundtrack to the first snow of the season - or for that matter the sound of most things beautiful. If, while listening to an intimate composition like "Your Mother's Heart", complete with banjo, you are drawn to compare J. Tillman to such timeless legends as Nick Drake circa-"River Man" (and, yes, Josh rightfully deserves this comparison - period.) or today's folk-spirit bearer Sam Beam* - you, my agreeable listener, are not alone. Recorded with Eric Fisher (Damien Jurado "cohort", Rosie Thomas) - "I Will Return" captures the sincere emotion that makes each of this albums nine songs suspend in the air around you like audible magic, the big dance of all dances.

It might not be a bad idea to just take the entire day off and let this album work it's healing magic - a saving grace in the sad day we are subject to with modern rubbish passing as song. Hard to get the mind to imagine this is the same gent that destroys the drumset in the vein of Keith Moon, minus the pyrotechnics. Amazing.

* Bear in mind - it is by far lazy and overly common to compare (nowadays) a quiet man & his delicate guitar to those of the past (Nick Drake, early Dylan) or today's leaders of the tradition (Iron & Wine, Dolorean) - but we as sctas, and I as a writer, will never namecheck for the sake of artist recognition. J. Tillman has crafted an instantly impressionable debut with "I Will Return". I feel much better.