Review Summary: This album is a small log cabin in upstate New York housing the raw and visceral sounds Dijon and his compatriots have summoned.
I found Absolutely in an interesting time of my life. Fresh out of a breakup, the beginning of the frigid cold winter season, and with that the fleeting hours of daylight. Amidst this time, my discovery of one of the album’s singles “Rodeo Clown”, an incredibly raw, somber song, sung in drunkenness about a one sided relationship and washed in beautiful little guitar licks gave sonic expression to my internalized feelings I had been having. Now, piqued with interest, when the album came out I gave it my full attention, and since then, it’s never let it go. The songs are filled with noises of comrades laughing, bottles opening, and subtle weeping which is truly paramount to the sonic lexicon and landscape of this album. Amongst that and the other obfuscated room noise, you get songs filled with incredible emotion that are an amalgam of country, r&b, rock, folk, ambient, soul, and actual magic. It’s something new, but something familiar. It wears the heart and soul of its aural wizards that conjured these sounds so proudly and so fiercely, that you can’t help but feel connected in some way to them.
The film that also accompanied the album, where the songs are played live in a ostensibly real, yet faux living room, is also an absolute essential part of the experience, and something that has furthered my adoration for this album tenfold. Their extended, alternate versions of a couple of songs off the LP, provide a teeny glimpse of how the album looks like it was made; maudlin 3 AM jams with friends, which is exactly what is shown in the film, and is exactly what made me love it even more. I’ll love this album forever, for what it means to me, and for how it makes me feel. Although, I’m in a different place now, ‘tis still “Absolutely” my favorite album.
