The frontman and creative lynchpin of Oklahoma’s finest, Other Lives, described by MOJO magazine as “the next must-have American pastoral sensation,” Jesse and his chief collaborator Kim Tabish used their time during lockdown to fashion a glorious record, as epic as it is intimate, distinguished by the same sweeping, cinematic arrangements and haunting, wistful melodies that typify the band’s catalogue, but with a rawer edge that reflects its’ home-made origins. “The album isn’t necessarily ‘western’ sounding; it’s more that, if I name something immediately, it sticks for me, so the album title stayed Cowboy Ballads.” The album’s ballads are represented by ‘New Love’, ‘Price In Full’, ‘Rituals II’ and the instrumentals ‘Italia Nite I’ and ‘Dread Harp Blues’, simmering episodes fit for a cowboy as he rides off into the sunset – though few cowboys post the existential thoughts that Jesse does here. 1. Cowboy Ballad 2. Da DA 3. Italia Nite I 4. Manchini 5. Bells and Whistles 6. Dread Harp Blues 7. New Love 8. Castro 9. Keep You Right 10. Price In Full 11. Fantastik 12. Halloween Day 13. Mystic I 14. Rituals II
