The Jackal’s Son is the project of California’s Sean Rosner. With a little help from Marley Rosner, he makes heartfelt tunes that sit at the intersection between organic folk and a lovelorn singer-songwriter style. Fans of Iron & Wine, Noah Gundersen and the acts on Other Songs Recordings Co. will find lots to like.
All of these qualities are displayed in the opening track, ‘House of Straw’, with its delicately intricate guitar and emotive vocals rising occasionally in impassioned peaks. Rosner’s lyrics are wordily poetic, like verses from a few centuries ago that paint an age old story of love and loss. Traditional in a newer sense is ‘Only Water (Lost At Sea)’, a folk song that could have risen into the snowy New York night above Greenwich village in the 60s, its lyrics borrowing imagery from ancient maritime folk songs to explore contemporary living.
“Cause this, this is water,
that rises above the sound
and we are all just brothers,
lost at sea”
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‘Georgia on My Mind’, a cover of the song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930, has a soulful vibe, Rosner’s smoky vocals snaking around gentle acoustic guitar, while ‘Wheel and the Stone’ is carried along on a bright but ruminative strum, Rosner delivering lyrics that deal with the tortures that life can hand out. Despite this serious subject matter, the last quarter rings bright and celebratory, with choral vocals delivering the defiant line that inspires the album’s title.
“Burn away,
defy the night”
Final track, ‘Wide Eyes’, brings things back for a gentle and rounded conclusion. It’s a love song, one seemingly written after the struggles of the previous tracks. “You see I’ve found my place, I was stolen for your side”, Rosner sings, “I can see that no trial can deny this wide eyed reverie”.
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You can get Burn Away, Defy the Night now on limited edition CD (see below) or name-your-price download from Katuktu Collective, or The Jackal’s Son Bandcamp page.
