Artist:     Turner Cody and the Soldiers of Love

Album:     Friends in High Places

Label:     Capitane Records

Release Date:     6.4.21

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Hopelessly in love and hung over, Turner Cody tries to gather himself, but seems to be taking leave of his senses in “Boozing and Losing.” The slow, bleary-eyed country lament stumbles home in Friends in High Places, as Cody sings, “So I bury all my days in dead-end alleyways, infinite delays in empty cans” – monuments to wasted days and nights.

Unsure of himself romantically, Cody poignantly adds, “That same thing has broken me has broken all mankind.” It’s one of about a thousand brilliantly conceived lines about the human condition—in and salvation, heartbreak, regret and mortality all common themes—that flow poetically from the tap of Friends in High Places, as questions about Cody’s sanity arise. After all, it’s crazy to think that Townes Van Zandt’s country folk musings would ever commiserate with the suave, dissolute pop stylings of Serge Gainsbourg. Opposites do attract, though, so both have a seat at the table here, holding hushed conversations from beyond the grave with Cody and co-conspirator Nicolas Michaux, a Belgian producer and musician whose stock-in-trade happens to be French minimalism and subtle grooves, like those of the ambling, easygoing title track.

Their collaborative partnership yields songs of simple, unassuming appeal, and beauty even. The watery, seductive noir of “Mr. Wrong” drowns in cinematic storytelling, as the slinky and seedy “Lonely Days in Hollywood” and the unhurried, Old Timey gospel stroll “Drink a Toast in Heaven” have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Meanwhile, as they move at a brisk pace thanks to some light, snappy drumming, “What I Tell You” and “Telling Stories” get caught on tight, little hooks, while a sashaying “Love in Vain” sadly dances alone.

A veteran of New York City’s anti-folk scene, with 14 albums under his belt, Cody seems headed in new and interesting directions, having thumbed a ride with Michaux and his adaptable band Soldiers of Love. Nimble guitar interplay, smoggy organ rolls, Cody’s surprising vocal clarity, and a rhythm section that knows where to go and just how fast to drive soberly all play clearly defined roles in getting Cody and his Friends in High Places home safely.

—Peter Lindblad