Kweller explains Changing Horses by saying “After the Beatles and before Nirvana, country music was the soundtrack of my life, the music that shaped who I am… this album focuses in on that one side of me.” And while the record is not bursting at the seems with spurs and prairie references, Kweller remains poignant and true to the genre. Kweller, while a pop master hands down, has no problem translating his craft to the bluegrass mode in the vein of Paul Roberts.
Kweller is an old soul to say the least as his songs weave imagery that he could not possibly have experienced, but does it believably.
From the peaceful meditation of “Gypsy Rose” and “Old Hat,” both of which remind one of a Bob Dylan-esque Blood on the Tracks, to the truck stop ballad of “Fight” and the diner side rhapsody of “Sawdust Man”, Kweller keeps his truck a' driving by constantly changing pace. Even with the intra-album evolution, he never strays from his sentiments:
“I’m like my grandma
Short, but I stand tall
Playing every single card that’s dealt to me
Well, some days are aces
And some days are faces
Some days are twos and threes!”
In Changing Horses Ben Kweller has slipped smoothly into another philosophy of songwriting. Kweller has not strayed so far from his comfort zone that he cannot safely return to his pop-laden past making him more flexible than ever.
Verdict: Buy this album, and go drive somewhere!
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