Artist: Jeb Loy Nichols and the Westwood
Album: June Is Short, July Is Long
Label: Compass Records
Release Date: 10.4.2019
Find the coziest spot in your living room, or better yet, an outdoor porch if the climate allows. Pour beverage of choice. Put your damn phone away (this part is important). Settle back in comfort, soak in the sights and sensations as the day turns to evening, and remember that life can always have some consistent comforts among all the crazy ups and downs.
That’s the aural experience of June Is Short, July Is Long, though it’s a good listen for plenty of other settings and moods as well. The flavors are familiar: ones Jeb Loy Nichols has been using in different combinations for decades: soul, reggae, country, blues, funk, folk and anything else that feels fun. Where 2017’s Country Hustle bitingly brooded on the modern world over hard-kicking grooves, this outing is more of an analogue around-the-campfire affair more geared toward the personal.
Nichols and friends kick off with a sly piece of dub-funk, which actually turns out to be a misleading hint of the heartwarming listen to come. “Matter of Fact” is all lovely straight-faced soul, while “Black Rooster” bounces down the road with unexpected R&B cheer. Perhaps the brightest moment comes early with the summery “I Think I’ll Fall in Love Today,” sounding just like a familiar Motown classic you’ve been hearing all your life.
Never one to overthink or over-produce a recording in excessive detail, Nichols makes sure each track has just as much or little dressing as it needs. The vibe is as raw and real as his whiskey-seasoned voice. Simple honest chemistry is the key to the production (a live-in-the-room session knocked out by a good tight band in three days), helped along further by several stray interlude jams throughout. Any singer can wring out a lyric with feeling, but not everyone can bring just the right simplicity to lines like “Life’s a hurtful thing / and only love will get you through it.”
It only gets more simple and honest as things wind down, to the point where the last four pieces are timeless-sounding ballads outside any particular genre—not only that, but they have some of the purest and loveliest lyrics he’s ever sung. Nichols’s often edgy attitude largely takes a back seat to world-weary heart this time out, which thankfully only enhances the optimism underneath instead of smothering it out. June makes a rich slow-grower that digs down to its roots in all the best ways. Break out the s’mores and pass the drinks around at least one more time.
—Geno Thackara
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