#countless branches

Now 76 years old, Fay sounds like a man who has weathered the ravages of time, his life force relatively undiminished. Sure, his voice has the creaking, woody timbre of the gnarled tree that adorns Countless Branches’ cover, but it’s lit from within by hard-earned wisdom and wry humor. His songs have the feel of slipping into comfortable shoes, or stepping up to a piano and resting your fingers on well-worn ivories. These branches of straightforward songcraft reach towards the light in familiar arcs. For better or worse, you’ll no doubt have heard plenty of music like this before, whether sitting around a campfire strumming songs with friends, or from an old singer-songwriter LP from any decade since the 1960s. You’ll either feel right at home and settle in for the duration, or fidget to wrestle yourself free from its nagging familiarity. And Fay’s lyrics, for all their brevity and clarity, occasionally border on saccharine, such as these lines from “Your Little Face”: “Stars don’t smile, they’re building blocks for you and I / And puppies and kittens and birds that fly.”  

Most frustratingly, the main album is presented as 10 tracks with largely minimal arrangements, clocking in at under 30 minutes. Opener “In Human Hands” is a fine example of how the simplicity of Fay’s song writing can be deeply touching. Just voice and piano, there’s an immediate sense of reassurance and calm. Sparse, slow arrangements mean that any extra instrumentation can really bring a song to life, such as the swell of organ and violin on “How Long, How Long,” or the flush of trumpet on “Love Will Remain.” But then there’s “Filled with Wonder Once Again,” which see-saws between two chords for its three-minute duration — and that’s about it.  

This makes the addition of a further seven bonus tracks on the deluxe edition rather perplexing, as three are full-band versions of some of the album’s more pared-back songs, and bonus tracks “Tiny,” “Don’t Let My Marigolds Die” and “The Rooster” trump many of the lesser tracks on the main album. It’s understandable that these songs may have been omitted for the sake of maintaining a more consistent tone, but they’re sorely missed. “Don’t Let My Marigolds Die” features some slick lead guitar reminiscent of Mark Knopfler, and “The Rooster” has a heartbreaking sway that would feel right at home among the rest of the main album’s songs. Why the album couldn’t have accommodated most of these extras is beyond me.  

There’s a solid, heartening release to be found in Countless Branches. It’s a shame that Fay and Dead Oceans didn’t take the opportunity to tease it out.