Chris Robinson Brotherhood Strike Hot On ‘If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now’ EP (ALBUM REVIEW)

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crbWith the release of, If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now EP, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s earlier 2016 full LP release Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel makes more sense. The bandleader of CRB and former founder of the Black Crowes is certainly correct in assessing the unity inherent in the music in this five-track EP because it emanates the vivid authority of the group’s initial two albums, Big Moon Ritual and The Magic Door.

Still their best work to date, the latest release echoes those albums right from the beginning of “New Cannonball Rag,” an inviting mix of lazy shuffle and swagger highlighted by Neal Casal’s slide guitar and, even more importantly, lush swells of the various keyboards manned by Adam MacDougall. Recorded during the same Stinson Beach sessions that resulted in the full-length album released earlier this year, the sound of this EP is much more plush, a virtue that, in turn, highlights the more rootsy likes of material like “Shadow Cosmos;” on that cut, steel guitar and light barrelhouse piano somewhat belie the title,as does Robinson’s own soulful singing as it’s augmented by the guitarist and keyboardist.

There’s a topical relevance in the lyrics of that song almost but not quite hidden in its symbolism, but that only imparts additional depth to the song. Similarly, the blend of lightly funky clavinet and mandolin injects substance into “Roan County Banjo,” but smooth harmony vocals are also a highlight, particularly as that component of the arrangement, plus the peppy rideout led by drummer Tony Leone, sets up the fairly brief, but nonetheless evocative instrumental “From the North Garden.”

With the overt country feel arising from the acoustic guitar base of “Sweet Sweet Lullaby” sounding of a piece with the preceding track, the continuity of If You Lived Here… remains intact over the course of its thirty-minute duration. And that seamlessness not only reflects well on this recording, but places Anyway You Love… in a different and more positive light as well.

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