Langhorne Slim & The Law
The Way We Move
Available now on Ramseur Records (June 5, 2012)
Langhorne Slim sings like he’s in trouble with the law; pleading, explaining, laying everything on the line to be sure his actions are
understood to be honest and intentions known to be noble.
On The Way We Move, Langhorne Slim & The Law weave
their way through folk, Americana and rock, with Slim singing his heart out the
entire way. His scratchy, honest, not-quite-falsetto voice may not be
classically trained, but more importantly it’s emotive.
The title track opens things up with David Moore plunking
out a joyous piano bounce between the chorus and verses while the Law chimes
in, vocally echoing Slim’s declarations.
“I was born with a thorn in my soul/guess it could be worse.
I might not’ve gotten much/but I know what it’s worth” Slim sings on “Bad Luck”
over the top of a snapping one-two snare beat and banjo. He’s had his share of
trouble and hard times, but even though bad luck’s rooted itself in him, Slim
knows he’ll survive.
Moore shines again on “Fire,” putting down a funky key part
to set the stage for a tale about childhood crushes and the inevitable crushing
of adult life. Hardly a pity party, The Law settles into its best groove of the
album on the track, as Moore jams away on his keys like a Stax session man in
the pocket.
A good half of the album finds the boys in balladeering
mode. Banjos and guitars gently pick their way along as Langhorne wrenches
every drop of feeling he can out of his vocal delivery. Nowhere is that more
apparent than “Song For Sid,” an ode to the writer’s beloved, late grandfather.
“Move” tends to lean either toward patient ballads or up
tempo foot tappers and rarely land anywhere in between. But whichever pole they
happen to be leaning on, Langhorne sings it just might be his last song.
