“That crooked jay sings his crooked song.” One Wing Shy is Noah Gabriel’s 13th release. Hatched & recorded during a pandemic & quarantine, these songs aint in a hurry, with lush intros & interludes giving way to a rich, meditative beauty. But there’s muscle too. He played all the instruments- in a small bedroom using one microphone and a tiny drum kit- in a “scattershot process”, stealing minutes when his family was sleeping or away. You hear his son pop in while the red light is on, and when putting Jude to bed they’d listen to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon or Beck’s Sea Change, seeping in here along with the ever-present ringing of Chris Whitley’s National steel guitar.
I was privy to these songs during the Dark Days and I climbed right in, melancholy & hope, the title cut providing the soundtrack to the movie in my head. “I wanted to make a road trip album full of songs that make little trips of their own”, Noah explained. “I wanted to make these songs last.” Take a trip but don’t hurry; embrace the ride.
-Dave Ramont (Clayhead Records)