Back Roads and Abandoned Motels is an album by
the Jayhawks featuring a set of songs written by the group's guitarist, singer, and frontman,
Gary Louris...except they're not exactly
Jayhawks songs. When he's not busy with the band,
Louris has a sideline collaborating on tunes with other writers for other artists, and it's that body of work that
the Jayhawks tackle on this album. Nine of
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels' 11 tracks are numbers he wrote in tandem with members of
the Dixie Chicks ("Everybody Knows," "Bitter End," and "Come Cryin' to Me"),
Jakob Dylan ("Gonna Be a Darkness"), Scott Thomas ("Need You Tonight"),
Carrie Rodriguez ("El Dorado"),
Ari Hest ("Bird Never Flies"),
Emerson Hart of
Tonic ("Long Time Ago"), and the members of
Wild Feathers ("Backwards Women"). One of the consequences of this is though these songs all carry a bit of
Louris' lyrical and melodic stamp, they also have a somewhat different personality than much of his music, and that gives this album a slightly cooler and less cohesive feel than the average
Jayhawks LP. ("Carry You to Safety" and "Leaving Detroit," which
Louris wrote on his own, fit a bit more easily.)
Louris also hands two lead vocals over to keyboard player
Karen Grotberg ("Come Cryin' to Me," where she's a dead ringer for
Aimee Mann, and "El Dorado"), while drummer
Tim O'Reagan steps to the mike for "Gonna Be a Darkness" and "Long Time Ago." Having established what sets this apart from a common, garden-variety
Jayhawks set, the big question is, is
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels any good? The answer is a decisive yes -- despite the shifting outlook of the songwriting, the performances are sturdy and evocative throughout, revealing how well these musicians work with one another as they make the most of the dynamics of this subtle but resonant music. And vocalists
Louris,
Grotberg, and
O'Reagan are all in superb form here, hitting their marks beautifully. In fact, after the experimentalism of 2016's
Paging Mr. Proust,
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels will certainly please more traditional-minded
Jayhawks fans, as it often recalls the low-key pleasures of 2003's
Rainy Day Music. The best songs on
Back Roads and Abandoned Motels are a lovely reminder of what
the Jayhawks have been doing so well for over 30 years, and if this album might make one wonder if
Gary Louris is running low on songwriting ideas, he still leads a band to be reckoned with. ~ Mark Deming