As soon as
Other Arrangements opens with a blast of growling electric guitars and banging backbeat, it's clear that
Parker Millsap has, well, made different musical arrangements than he has in the past. While he hasn't quite abandoned Americana, he's shifted his focus so that he's grounded in soulful roots rock. In this context, the delicate fingerpicked ballads "Singing to Me" and "Good Night" as well as the bittersweet denouement "Come Back When You Can't Stay" are accents, not anchors, and the shift not only adds muscle and color, but depth of feeling. Throughout
Other Arrangements,
Millsap leans into the grit, singing with a rasp over earthy, funky rhythms. What makes the record so satisfying is how
Millsap winds up fusing this thoroughly Southern sound with his literate, folky storytelling, which means that
Other Arrangements is vibrant and alive even when he's evoking styles that have been around for ages. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine