Jim Strong - My Enemies Are Mine To Keep

Latest outing of psychoactive folk song and dreamstate ooze from Eyes of the Amarylis' Jim Strong. Having issued an array of solo releases across a number of underground imprints, My Enemies Are Mine To Keep really makes an effort to bring Strong's vision into some kind of focus. Coherent isn't quite the word to describe music that's so obviously bent out of shape, but there's nonetheless a very particular sensibility being worked at here, an expression of America's distorted and unclaimed underbelly that couldn't be much better suited to the month of its release. Haunted most certainly, by what exactly not so obviously clear, a feeling that's mostly exentuated by the homemade instruments Strong favours, creating a sound that's both errie and uncanny. Connections to parent band Eyes of the Amarylis are easily discernible, though they don't end there, with throughlines evident to the backwoods mysticism of Maths Balance Volumes, the DIY drone 'n' tumble of labelmates Idea Fire Company and the alterna-universe self-determination of legendary underground lynchpin Jim Shepherd. It ends with a duet with long-term associate Weyesblood, presenting what could be a break-out moment for Strong given Natalie Mering's profile, though it would be an unexpected one - this is unusual music fit for disconcerting times. A fitting soundtrack to collective confusion, and long may it confound.