Headless Heroes

The Silence Of Love (World’s Fair)

By Erin Wolf
Published: August 1st, 2009 | 1:34pm

Eddie Bezalel enlisted the help of producer Hugo Nicolson to compile a collective of contemporary musicians to wipe the dust away from this collection of obscure songs and make them shine anew. The group rocks bare-bones style with acoustic guitar, woodwinds, and sparse percussion on Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game.” Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ “Nobody’s Baby Now” gets the gospel treatment with soft, murmuring strings and hollow, half-cabaret-style piano. The album becomes lush with effects and electronics, strings and glockenspiels on Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In the End.”

Josh Klinghoffer, Joey Waronker, Woody Jackson, Gus Seyffert, and Leo Abrahams each bring a distinct presence to the table, but it’s Nevada City psych-folk princess Alela Diane that makes this covers album soar. Building on her solo work, Diane’s distinctive vocal style adopts a bell-like quality here, her high notes cutting through the album’s pensive tracks. It is Diane’s contribution that lets The Silence Of Love quietly creep in and trump even Cat Power’s cover efforts with its more cohesive, timeless spirit.

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