At first, Charlemagne -- the latest nom de guerre of Carl Johns -- sounds like something of a regression from Johns' work with
NoahJohn, the Madison, Wisconsin-based collective that put out the alt-country gothic albums
Had a Burning and
Water Hymns. For the most part,
Charlemagne is nowhere near as sonically inventive as those albums, and there's nothing on it that will push listeners' comfort zones the way songs like "Surefire Woman" or "The Ballad of William Roy" did. Charlemagne is Johns by himself, but rather than using the solo approach as an excuse for self-indulgence, he actually pulls the reins in, writing dreamy and haunting, yet extremely taut, indie rock that's equal parts
Velvet Underground,
the Byrds, and
Lambchop. It's the most accessible collection of songs he has put together; "In Absentia"builds into a gorgeous flowering of suspended guitar chords and chimes, and "Two Steps Ahead" actually finds Johns rocking out by song's end, complete with whoops and hollers. "Dawn Upon" is as close as he gets to the alt-country that typified the first
NoahJohn record, and "Holland Daisy" is the most lighthearted thing here, opening up with a jaunty whistle. Johns' lyrics are as literate as ever, minimalist song-poems that -- with the occasional exception like the straightforward cheating song "How Could He?" -- more often than not only hint at stories and leave the listener to fill in the details. The album's only misstep is "Portrait with No Shortage of History," on which Johns sings a poem by his wife Tenaya Darlington; a nine-minute dirge delivered over a two-chord drone of bass and wispy keyboards, it never takes off. ~ Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen