Yellowthroat is Fred Abong's sixth solo album having also been a member of Belly and Throwing Muses this album was made with help from Rob Ahlers from 50Ft Wave and the Kristin Hersh trio.
The album opens with the picked acoustic guitar of Aurora with Fred's hushed vocals explaining the ways he wanted you to please him in the dark, the strings start to build, this has an elegiac beauty to it.
Elephant is sparse spare evocation of love for someone who isn't returning the sentiment as Fred tries to explain why they should love him as much as he loves them.
Fables has an easy going feel to the guitar and other backing Instrumentation as Fred's careworn vocals tell us all about the fables on his mind.
Passenger Side is slow thoughtful stark song with gently strings, with lyrics that will slowly seep in on repeated listening.
Glaciers is asking questions about all the time we've lost, as the glaciers slowly shrink and we get closer to the inflection point of no return over a hushed slow backing.
Bubbles is a song about trying to get out of a car that's been submerged in water after a crash and how you escape from the wreck, or do you just drown? The acoustic guitar is joined by some long tone synths and strings.
Streets has gently swelling strings, tablas, organ to explain the Streets to you, eventually the vocals starkly evoke the events that have put Fred in the mood and place he's in.
Twister is a love song for a swift, here today, gone tomorrow, fling on the road, with a bit of a religious edge as the music gently caresses your soul.
Woods is a spartan rumination on what may or may not have happened deep in the Woods. Phantom is gently morose downbeat look at the loves you've lost and the pain you've endured with backing as gently spare and downbeat as most of this album is.
The album closes with a cover of In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning that is slow and careful with some nods to Chet Baker, all it needs is a slow baleful trumpet part, to complete the crying into your whiskey feeling melancholic, that this album is perfect for. The delicacy of this version adds to the feelings evoked in the lyrics.
Find out more at https://fredabong.bandcamp.com/album/yellowthroat
