Emil Friis – The Road to Nashville

Emil Friis makes no secrets of his aims with a title like The Road to Nashville. His deference to Tennessee’s music capital, source of much of the music with which he is so enamoured, to me invites a comparison with Paul Simon’s “Graceland”. In that song, Simon was himself on the road to Graceland, just as Friis is on the road to Nashville. Whereas the former had become convinced that “all would be received” at his fabled destination, can Friis be as confident of acceptance? He is, after all, not a local. Instead he is an outsider, a Dane who recorded this second album in Norway, geographically and musically fairly isolated from his inspirations.

But whilst in a sense Friis’ road is long, distance does not neccesarily imply lack of authenticity. Indeed, after a short but jarring opening track which serves as a poor omen for the rest of the songs, The Road to Nashville does gradually build up exactly the world-weary, rustic and yearning atmosphere its creator presumably intended. It is only on that opening track, “I Tried to Tell You Why” that it is odd to hear a Dane participate in music like this; thereafter, his origins slip from significance and it is hard to fault his aching vocal contributions.

The trouble with The Road to Nashville is its dearth of variety in tone and especially in pace. Friis has nailed his sound, and understandably he has an urge to milk it – but it is in this regard that he oversteps somewhat. Any one of his slow to midtempo sad and soulful alt-country numbers satisfies on its own terms, no doubt especially so for listeners already accustomed to this style of music. But with such songs comprising the entirety of The Road to Nashville‘s tracklisting, there is a risk that they could blend into one. The dominant instruments, chiefly drums and piano, replicate the same basic sounds on each song, further enhancing this sense of mounting familiarity. Soon the album slides into a disappointingly predictable rhythm, all too accurately reflecting the monotony of a long, dull journey by road – perhaps to Nashville.