Gentle Spirit (Bonus Track Version)

The long-awaited follow-up to his first release finds Jonathan Wilson sounding like he’s lived a lifetime of experience in the four years between albums. Since his 2007 debut, Wilson has worked with Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, Robbie Robertson, Roy Harper, and Jackson Browne. Credited for bringing new life into the vintage “Laurel Canyon sound,” Wilson makes no attempt to deviate from his love for those classic rootsy tones—he even recorded Gentle Spirit at a studio in the actual Los Angeles canyon. The title track opens with hushed piano, as crisp acoustic arpeggios pluck around slowly pulsing Mellotron notes. Then Wilson comes in, singing softly in his high register with a weary, sleep-deprived-sounding voice that recalls Doom Trilogy–era Neil Young. The humorously titled “Can We Even Party Today” follows; its strumming sounds like Young’s “Tell Me Why,” but Wilson’s double-tracked vocals fall closer to the inflections of troubled troubadour Dennis Wilson (no relation). “Desert Raven” braids cosmic American twang into wistful dream pop, creating a beautifully organic psychedelia.