Last Train Home is pulling out of town, but not before leaving alt-country fans with something worth hearing again and again. Led by this newspaper's Nightwatch columnist Eric Brace, now on leave, the band has packed "Time and Water" with enough soulful ballads and mood-shifting treats to make you wish they'd reconsider their Nashville travel plans.
The ballads include the album's evocative title track, featuring one of Brace's most haunting vocal performances, and guitarist Scott McKnight's "All Gone Now," which boasts a melody that's nearly impossible to shake. Brace's "Blue Skies" and Mary Battiata's "All Right Okay," on the other hand, are firmly rooted in honky-tonk traditions and vibrantly arranged with splashes of piano, dobro, pedal steel guitar and fiddle. A pair of excursions into bluegrass lead to a fresh but faithful take on murder in the hill country, via Brace's "See What Love Can Do," and to an even fresher, raucously unfaithful reprise of the Bill Monroe/Peter Rowan classic "Walls of Time."
There are other enjoyable side trips, too, such as Alan Brace's southern soul turn on "He's the Kind" and the snazzy Latin lounge-inspired coda "Las Lagrimas Del Pollo Rico." All the while, Australian guitarist Jeff Lang and several talented local musicians contribute to the album's array of striking and subtle colors.
-Mike Joyce, Washington Post