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ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: James Elkington’s “Wintres Woma”

Good things come to those who wait. Chicago-based singer/multi-instrumentalist James Elkington had a decent run leading the Zincs and Horse’s Ha, but his songwriting engine’s gas tank went dry half a decade ago. No problem: The expatriate Englishman just became the guy people with great taste (Steve Gunn, Brokeback, Laetitia Sadier, Richard Thompson, Jeff Tweedy) called when they needed a versatile sideman. In time, the songs started to flow again, and there’s a stream of good ones on Wintres Woma. The title is Old English for The Sound Of Winter, and Elkington’s new tunes mine the same vein of jazz-tinged folk that Pentangle, Nick Drake and John Martyn did 50-odd years ago. The music’s effortless grace contradicts the experiences of temporal and cultural unease that Elkington sings about in ways that’ll keep the listener guessing and the record spinning.

Bill Meyer