The music business isn’t usually kind to the wayward muse.
Although record companies, radio stations and MTV love to hype their commitments to particular artists, they’ve all found it easier to cash in on clearly defined trends and lifestyles than on raw talent. That’s why the industry recognizes and embraces well-defined niches (psychedelia, disco, grunge) more confidently than it does the individual, often unpredictable artist.
Joe Henry is a perfect case in point. A few years ago, the struggling singer-songwriter crossed paths with members of the country-rock group the Jayhawks. Looking for a new challenge, Henry decided to write and record some songs using his new bandmates’ vernacular.
The resulting records were well received, and many fans and critics viewed Henry as a leading light in the burgeoning “alternative country” movement. But with his two most recent albums (“Trampoline” and “Fuse”), Henry has revamped both his songwriting and his sound, developing a more impressionistic, atmospheric pop-soul approach.
On Sunday night, Henry brought a completely retooled band to Schubas for the first of two shows designed to road test that new sound. By the end of the evening, both the songwriting and the support crew had passed that test brilliantly.
Henry’s backing quartet was made up of R&B vets whose resumes include stints with Seal and Morris Day’s Time, and that undergraduate work in groove-ology 101 was evident all night. From early set numbers such as “Monkey” through to a funked-up encore cover of Randy Newman’s “Last Night I Had a Dream,” Henry and his group replaced some of “Fuse’s” lush ambience with punchy rhythms and crisp execution.
On “Want Too Much,” the band transformed Henry’s smoldering lover’s plea into a slinky strut decked out in vintage wah-wah guitars and synthesized strings that perfectly captured the late-night yearning of the tune’s protagonist. On song after song, drummer Curt Bisquera’s loose, crackling beats and bassist Jennifer Condos’ liquid lines gave Henry’s music a palpable snap that drove its hooks straight into the crowd’s collective hip.
But there were moments when nuance trumped passion. Dappled in Gregg Arreguin’s whispering guitar strings and Jamie Muhoberac’s purling electric piano, “Fuse” came across as a gorgeous blue-eyed soul gem that recalled the late Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You.”
However, if Henry was once inaccurately tagged as an alt-country strummer, his current endeavor shouldn’t be construed as a simple neo-soul revue. Elements of country twang, low-burn funk and rock simmered beautifully together in songs like “Skin and Teeth” and “Medicine,” creating a multifaceted mix as hard to define as it was to resist.
Although Henry can be a less than commanding vocalist, his newer songs rely on clipped, elliptical imagery instead of straightforward narratives, so he no longer needs to sing out. By alternating dryly intoned verses with his band’s evocative washes of color, Henry’s songs conveyed their considerable power through suggestion and texture rather than verbiage.
Whether Henry’s vivid, stylistically slippery songs will elude the grasp of a wider public remains to be seen. But they deserve the devotion of an ever-growing group of die-hard fans.
