Tyler Childers : 'Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven"

 

This is going to be a different format since for his most recent album Childers recorded three different versions of each song. They are assembled on three different discs. These versions are labelled as Hallelujah, jubilee, and joyful noise versions. I am going to break it down song by song and see how they stack up. I am just labelling these as 1,2,3, rather writing out the name of each description repeatedly. 

"Old Country Church" 

1- This has the kind of soulful swagger we heard coming from country music in the 60s and 70s. There is a gospel slant, but country music has its roots in southern gospel music, with many artists crossing over. There is a great deal of groove. 2- The second version is more orchestrated and carries a few more layers. Pretty close to the first 3- the 3rd is the most experimental and different, almost like a remix This is a jammed out instrumental with samples taking the place of vocals. 

"Can I Bring My Hound to Heaven"

Similar to opening track the first two versions find the main differences being the more nuanced second version that feels like it has more guitar and is giving the vocals a little more room. Strings accent certain transitions, but it has a similar flow.  The 3rd version going the way it went with the first song almost sounds like a dance remix from the 90s.

"Two Coats"

I am glad there is more of a focus on guitar on this one though the first version is just an instrumental. The second the vocals sit in the background like they are being sung from the back of the barn while the rest of the band plays outside. On the third version of this one it is clear; Childers takes some kind of psychedelics. It oddly breaks down in a way that gives the vocals more room.  

"Purgatory" 

This one is more traditional country though as the song progresses, he is jamming it out more with organ flourishes. He allows his voice to break in places on higher notes to create the feel that he is singing his heart, out which, he might be, it is a more soulful effort all the way around. Musically this would be a lot of fun live. The second version has the horns higher in the mix. It goes back to my earlier comparison of country music in the 60s and 70s. The third version is a totally different take on the instrumentation and is purposefully funkier

"Way of the Triune God"

This being a gospel take on what he does, normally would not work for me given my distaste for the Christian religion and really all religion, but there is something raw and honest about what he does that seems like more of an ode to his hillbilly past rather than a declaration of his current belief system. The first version certainty more of a honky tonk feel. If you were going to compare this to say Orville Peck, it is clear who the more authentic version of country music is. The second version is in some ways more stripped down, it feels like he is playing it in the streets of New Orleans thanks to the rag time horns backing him, the third version takes the New Orleans feel of the second version and remixes it into an instrumental.

"Angel Band" 

This was the lead single for this album. So far, I have preferred the other songs I have heard this far than this one as at least this first version is too gospel for my tastes, but he is good at what he is doing here. I will say paying attention to the lyrics and hearing I am not being preached at does make me like this one more than the first listen so it might grow on me. The first version might be marginally more straight forward than the second. 

"Jubilee"

The first banjo I notice is on this song. It seems like the first version is more jammed out. You have to respect that he could have come out and replicated his big singles that put him on the map and instead he went off and did his own thing. The second version finds a sitar replacing the banjo, and female vocals that sit out in the barn take the focus. The third version is an electronic remix. 

"Heart You've Been Tendin" 

Is the strongest song, it has an emotional urgency and is a little darker than what you normally get from him. The vocal melody might be his best yet, the groove of the song is strong. The guitar solo on this one rips. You can hear the Pink Floyd influence on this one, which how many times are you going to hear that said about a country song. The second version is softened by the strings, but it is pretty close to the original version which is what I believe the first version of these songs are. 

No matter how you slice this based off the first two versions of these songs I will round this up to a 10. I think the reasons of this have been made as this is a bold artistic statement for a country artist to made that puts him alongside Sturgill Simpson in this regard.