For those seeking an album to accompany those long, late-night drives,
Mind and Mother --
Burd Early's musical journey toward inner peace -- is a good choice. But his emotional destination isn't easily reached, as the sparsely played, beat-sturdy "How Far" mines thoughts like, "There's a silence happening underneath all the acting." Elsewhere, the worm food semi-ballad "Fertilizer Waiting to Happen" dwells on the fate of all humans, as the disc's only real rocker "Blackdot" helps
Early forget his woes en route to self-discovery. The tender title track finds him hoping to make things right with an estranged mom with the help of an appealing melody. Not so for the country/electronica fusion of "Undoing the Day," which is just plain askew in execution. Still, for those spooky travels across empty stretches of dark highway,
Mind and Mother is somehow a suitable fit. ~ John D. Luerssen