John, whom Gunn welcomed onstage recently at the epic Bell House show, regaling the crowd with “Ask Me No Questions” before debuting “River.” “Morning River” features harmonies from the magnificent Bridget St. The opening notes of the title track begin to build the ethereal wall of sound, Gunn’s voice singing the name and sounding somehow fragile but renewed while doing so. I’ve always loved his singing but he’s been quite open about the fact that it isn’t second nature to him and hearing it continue to enlarge and expand is a gift.
Instead, piano and percussion pave the way, but Steve’s silvery voice is the most prominent instrument, in fact, sounding clearer and more melodic than ever. Gunn is my favorite living guitarist, a sight to behold, so interestingly Other You is his least-guitar-solo-forward collection of songs to date. This was my first experience with Gunn and since then, I’ve dived deeply into his back catalog, from GHQ and on, and it’s been fascinating to retroactively experience his musical evolution. Out tomorrow on Matador Records, it’s the latest official LP since (my album of the year for 2019) The Unseen In Between. The other thing Gunn was working on, outside of releasing previously-recorded or at-home recordings, is Other You. Since the onset of the pandemic, he’s released a good amount of music, including an EP of covers, two of which originally recorded for Aquarium Drunkard’s Lagniappe Sessions with the addendum of a haunting version of Neil Young’s Motion Pictures” Spring in Brooklyn, three gorgeous guitar meanderings for Cafe OTO and a 7″ with Cass McCombs, featuring Michael Hurley’s “Sweet Lucy” and Gunn’s lead on the Scottish trad classic “Wild Mountain Thyme.” I list all these things just in case you missed something and you, like I, consider yourself on a quest to be a Gunn completist. To be Steve’s neighbor and hear his guitar explorations over the last 16 months or so would be an enviable position.
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